It All Began With a Flame
by Luna-tic MackJay
Summary: Isabella Harrison was the elder sister of Jane and Alec Harrison, before they became Jane and Alec Volturi. It has been more than a thousand years since her death, and is it possible that she may be alive again? Isabella Marie Swan, daughter of Charlie and Renee, looks and acts exactly like... No, that cannot be... can it? "She's dead! How is that possible?" Canon pairings HIATUS
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

* * *

_"Jane, darling, can you keep still?" The brunette woman said warmly, dragging a thin toothed piece of wood through the child's pale brown hair. "At least for a moment?"_

_"It hurts, Isa," the child complained, her lower lip jutting out as her way of protesting, full knowing that the woman could not see her face. Every time her sister's swift yet careful hands brought the object down to her tips, the child would exhale in relief, that was until it was brought back up to the top of her head, drawing a pained grimace to mar her features._

_"I know, Jane. I, too, have to detangle my hair as often as you. Just bear with it for a short while."_

_The child frowned and let out a long sufferable sigh, but complied nonetheless._

_It scared Isa when Jane acted more like an adult than a child. She blamed it all on the village. The village people were blundering narrow-minded idiots. They have robbed her younger twin siblings' chances at a normal childhood all because they strongly accused them of being witches. Witches! Such tomfoolery! They were not witches! She should know because she had all but taken care of her siblings since the second Jane was conceived._

_Witch twins, they would call the two. Witch twins!_

_Isa was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts and surged back into reality when her brother barged into their small hut. Isa put down the object at hand and beckoned for him to go to her. He did, dashing to the comforts of her warm embrace wrapping around him like a personal blanket of safety._

_Isa was concerned. When he came bursting in, she thought he had officially gone mad, but his dark brown hair was tousled and drenched in sweat, and his stormy grey eyes were wide and panicky, and she knew he was far from mad. When he crashed into her arms, her anxiety flew to the sky as she felt her dress get soaked from sweat, tears and saliva._

_"Alec, what has happened?" Isa asked, her voice burning with worry and fear. She glanced at Jane for a second, and noticed the girl was shaking slightly, pools of pale blue eyes submerged in raw fear. Isa paid no mind, but at the back of her head, she knew Jane had a feeling of what was going on. It was not necessarily branded as witchcraft, rather a term they came up on their on: _twin-stinct.

_"I heard of their plans!" Alec cried, burying his face into Isa's shoulder. "They are planning to come here after nightfall and take us! They have condemned us to burn at the stake! They think Jane and I practice witchcraft, and that you are the one who enforces it!"_

_Isa stiffened. She had always possessed a strong disliking towards her neighbors for calling her siblings witches, but this... what they had planned..._

_Her dislike evolved to a pure passionate hatred._

_Snapping herself from her thoughts, she slowly pushed Alec off from her and gripped his upper arms firmly. "Listen to me, both of you. I want you to get your sacks and take everything you may want to bring along."_

_"Sister," Jane said frightfully, "where are we going?"_

_"We are leaving this horrid place. Now go and ready your belongings. But keep it to a minimum. We have but a long journey ahead of us. Now off you go."_

_And just like that, all three siblings raced to get their packs and stuffed their most important belongings in them like: their late mother, Katerina's necklaces, their deceased father, Harry's cloak..._

_Isa did not bother packing any of the sentimental items she had come to cherish the years she has had growing up. She did not have to. Objects are objects, they are never permanent. And she knew most of the items she grew fond of were already taken by Jane, the others by Alec. So she busied herself with travel necessities like food and money._

_She glanced at the framed aperture that allowed one to view outside and found the orange tinted sky had thin stretches of pinkish clouds scattered everywhere._

_Her heart was stuttering and she could hear the blood that it pumped behind her ears as fear began to consume her and toss her into an irrational state of sanity._

_It was already twilight, and it wasn't long before night would fall, and they would all be doomed._

* * *

_The three siblings were able to narrowly escape the hand of death. Just moments after they had fled the confines of the shelter they called home, it was invaded by a mob of angry, unreasonable people with their flames and crude weapons._

_They ran. They ran right into the dark woods the villagers all feared venturing into, especially when the black sky, moon and stars hung above them._

_"Isa!" Jane cried, her ragged breathing loud and rough. "Where are we to go?"_

_Isa decelerated and came to a skidding stop. She knew they could not outrun them. They would hear their footsteps, follow them and eventually, catch up to them._

_Isa has never been more frantic in her entire life._

_What to do?_

What to do?!

_"Isa! Please compose yourself and think rationally!" Alec said in an almost commanding voice._

_It still broke her heart that her younger siblings, only thirteen years of age, were more mature than most adults._

_But she shook that thought away._

Think, think, think…

_"The trees!" She suddenly blurted out in a voice barely above a whisper. Her head whipped up, as did her siblings, and looked at the foliage that swaged in the wind above them. It was the perfect refuge for the temporary crisis._

_They wasted no time and Jane was the first to climb. Alec followed suit, making sure his sister would grab the right branch, or not let her foot slip. But it was deemed unnecessary, seeing as Jane had agile reflexes that could resemble that of a feline. Isa was the last to scale up the tree._

_"Climb to the very top, Jane," Isa instructed in a hushed tone._

_Jane nodded, despite Isa not being able to see the gesture. When they had ran out of sturdy branches to hold on to, Jane and Alec settled on a tree limb that was strong enough to hold them both, their breaths were hard and uneven from the strenuous physical activity of previous running. The twins had their arms enfolded around each other, like it was their personal bubble of haven._

_Alec did not care at all that he was the youngest of the three. No matter what, he was the man of the house, his father had said to him. No matter what, he must take care of his sisters, his mother had said to him. Jane would always need her brother to protect her, and Isa would always need some guidance when a dead end would meet her path._

_He pulled Jane closer to him, as if the very gesture could absorb the terror and sadness that conquered her heart._

_Isa, on the other hand, opted to stay just a branch below them. Her hands were raked in her messy wavy mahogany hair, her eyes squeezed shut and her knees drawn to her chest. She had tried to slow her rapid breaths, or at least try to silence them. Just before dusk, she and Jane were under their usual routine, and now they were thrown into a chasm of horror, as she now heard the villagers approaching closer._

_"Where have they gone?!" One of the men grunted. Isa was quick to know it was their neighbor, Aldrin Thompson. There was no official leader within the dwindling numbers of the townspeople, but he often acted as one. People in the village needed one, so spoke no ill words about him._

_"Perhaps they have taken this route!" A woman shouted, pointing at a narrow path to the West._

_"How can you be sure?"_

_"They could be anywhere!"_

_"Blast those witch twins! They have probably used their evil witchcraft to conceal themselves from us!"_

_Jane let out a quiet whimper. Alec, trying to be brave for the sake of his twin, clamped his hand down on her mouth gently. Jane did not complain. She sank into Alec's arms._

* * *

_They waited until all the villagers had left. They could not stay hidden amongst the trees forever. By daybreak, they would be spotted, and then..._

_Well, you know._

_Isa climbed down swiftly, not bothering where her foot lodges or which branch she grabbed. As soon as she was down, she plucked Jane, who was within reach, from the tree and steadied her on the ground. She knew Alec had not wanted help and craved to prove himself, so Isa let him be._

_"Isabella?" Someone with a deep voice said behind them._

_Isa jumped. She was discovered._

_She turned around and found Gregory, one of her neighbors' son and her only friend._

_"Gregory," Isa said as she stood in front of her siblings to block his view of them, "please. Tell no one of this. Please!"_

_Gregory was too still, like he was speaking to himself and having an internal battle within. He looked up and shared a strong eye contact with Isa, an electric blue and mud brown._

_He sighed and said, "I truly am sorry, Isabella." Her eyes widened. "_Father! I have found the Harrison siblings!_"_

* * *

_They were captured._

_And then they were burning._

_One wanted relief from the fire._

_One sought vengeance upon the people who started the fire._

_One desired to protect the innocent from the fire._

_The fire took over and consumed them all._

_Two rose._

_One fell._

_And their story was far from over..._

_It has only begun._

* * *

The fire is back!

My hands and my legs are moving up and down. I want to run away from the fire. Fire is bad. Fire always hurts.

"Bella!" Someone says, and I know it is my mommy. She is shaking me. "Bella, sweetheart, wake up."

"Mommy?" I say slowly, opening my eyes. When I open them, I see Mommy and she is looking at me. She is sad. I am sad. Why is Mommy sad?

"Oh, sweetheart," she says and she hugs me. I hug her too. "Did you get a nightmare again?"

My head goes up and down. "Mommy, the fire always hurts."

"I'm so sorry, baby. Do you want to sleep with me and Daddy tonight?"

My head goes up and down. "Yes, Mommy."

"Okay, then." She picks me up and she walks to her and Daddy's room.

Daddy is snoring.

Mommy puts me down and she kisses my head. "Sleep, Bella. I'll make sure I'll keep the fire away."

I let my head go up once before I close my eyes.

Mommy always says that she would keep the fire away. But she is lying. The fire is always there. It always comes back.

The fire always hurts.

Did the fire hurt Jane and Alec?

I think it did.

Because the fire always hurts.

* * *

**A/N: Worth to continue? This idea was just inspired when I suddenly became obsessed with the idea of "hey! What if Isabella Swan was Jane and Alec's elder sister?!" which I'm sure you guys have gone through at some point in your life... right?**

**Notes:**

_**- Yes, Jane, Alec and Isabella's parents are named Harry and Katerina Harrison. These names were just chosen at random because I needed the parents' names (S.M. didn't tell since it wasn't exactly relevant). The parents don't have vital roles in this story, but their names will pop out eventually. And I chose Harrison as their last name... well, Harry. Harry-son: Harrison... As you can see, I am far from being a creative person.**_

_**- This fic will be in the same timeline as Twilight, but I will be using the timeline in the film series. **_

_**- Although the film series timeline will be used for this fic, I will be mostly using the plot from the book. Notice above I mentioned Jane has pale brown hair instead of blonde? Yeah, things like that.**_

**You may have caught on a lot of mistakes, and I do apologize for that. I don't have a beta, and it's quite hard to find one that is frequently on FF, seeing as there are literally thousands. If you are a beta-reader/proofreader, then drop me a message if you are interested in beta-reading this. I do need one. I love writing, but I am a teenager, meaning I have weaknesses called blissful ignorance so yeah I do tend to slip up here and there.**

**And I'm sorry for the horrible child's point of view... I tried thinking like a child, but I only ended up thinking like Olaf from Frozen... xD**

**Oh dear, this is a long author's note...**

**If you liked this, please drop a review to tell me how I'm doing, or add this to your favorites, or follow it. ;) any kind of love is still love.**

**Cheers!**


	2. 1 — Party

**CHAPTER ONE — PARTY**

**BELLA**

* * *

I am ninety-nine point nine percent sure I am dreaming.

Why am I so sure I am not in reality? Maybe because I am standing under a bright halo of sunshine on my yard in gloomy, rainy Forks, Washington, and because I am staring right into the colors of a pale blue that reminds me of a cool cerulean water that reflects the clear azure sky and a light grey that you would usually get from the ashes of burnt paper. And that alone solidifies the dream theory because those eyes belongs to Jane and Alec respectively.

I am aware that Jane and Alec only appeared to me in my dreams. My own made-up twin siblings.

The two have not changed since I last saw them. Both of them still have the same pale complexion as I, the same narrow nose and full lips. But that is it when it comes to our similarities.

Jane still has that light brown crowning hair, the tips just ending an inch above her shoulders. She still possesses a petite and slim frame that made her look more like an eleven-year-old than a thirteen-year-old.

Alec, however, had chestnut-brown hair that is almost matching mine, except it lacks the red undertone mine has. He is taller than Jane, maybe by three inches. His body structure is lanky, but I can see that he has a bit of baby fat.

Their hands are linked together, which is common, but I notice something different.

They are smiling.

Jane and Alec rarely smiled in my dreams, and now they are. I like it. It has a nice subtle change that is anything _but _subtle.

"Bella!"

It is not Jane nor Alec who calls out my name. I turn to see who the addition is and before I craned my neck to take a glance at the owner of the voice, I already knew to whom it belonged to, given our past together that awake or asleep, alive or dead, I'd know that voice anywhere.

Edward.

Of course I am more than happy to see him, be it conscious or unconscious, but he is walking toward me, in all his gleaming glory. What is he _doing?_ He is _not_ supposed to expose himself to humans; he even had difficulty revealing his true nature to me! And here he is, strolling in my direction under the glaring rays of the sun, his skin glittering like a thousand tiny pieces of shiny diamond facets.

I still know this is nothing but a dream, but I just can't help but feel _scared_ for him and for my dream siblings.

Of course I trust both parties with my life (even though the latter aren't even real), but after all I had done for Jane and Alec, after all I had kept for Edward, I cannot contain my panic for their safety.

I had always been thankful for my mind allowing to keep itself secretive from Edward's telepathic ability, but at this moment I want nothing more than to let him hear me shriek my warning at him.

My vision darts back to my siblings, but they are not paying Edward any attention. They just keep their eyes on me, the edges crinkling in happiness. I look back at Edward and now that he is close enough for me to see, I feel my blood flow freeze from all movements.

His irises are red.

And I know this is no longer a dream. This is one of the most horrifying nightmares I could ever have.

My body acts upon instinct that is hardwired with my brain, and I let my legs push me forward to my siblings, but I can't move. My legs are frozen, and I just watch helplessly as I see the unmistakable blur of white before I see him break their necks as if he were just breaking twigs. He lifts his head up to meet mine and a corner of his mouth twitches. It's not my favorite crooked smile. It's a _smirk._

He tosses me Alec's — _wince_ — body, and stormy grey eyes that lack life gaze up to meet mine. I rip my eyes from the horrible sight to glance at Edward, but he is gone. A mirror replaces where he and Jane stood.

I gape at myself. I'm not in my cotton tee-shirt, jeans and Converse. I'm in a dress that you typically see in the regime of medieval times. I look older, as if I were in my fifties. My mahogany hair is a mess, my face is covered in dirt... but my eyes... They aren't a comforting color of chocolate brown anymore.

They are red.

And my skin is ridiculously pale that I think I am whiter than Edward, the vampire himself.

My eyes sweep down to look at Alec, but he is gone now as well. A burning stake is set up where he was, embers and flames dancing its captivating tones of red, orange and yellow. Strong pairs of large hands cage me and slowly push me to the fire at an agonizing pace, totally unhinged by my struggling. As I draw closer and closer, I can feel the heat it radiates, and I can't help but feel absolute _terror_.

Voices are chanting. I try to drown it out, but it is loud. It's a mix of _kill the witch_ and _kill the vampire._

Before I am tossed into the flames, I faintly hear the voice of a man I vaguely knew as Aldrin Thompson.

"Happy birthday, Isabella. I hope your soul goes straight to hell."

And then I am burning.

#

I wake up with a start, my body jerking me forward as I felt beads of perspiration trail down my seemingly cold face. My hands fly to my chest and I press hard on it, trying to control my breathing, but I can't. I am dizzy, but I push away the feeling of head rush.

_Just a dream_, I try to convince myself._ It was only just a dream._

But is it? Jane and Alec are nothing more than figments of my imagination, and I know deep in my heart that Edward would never - ever - hurt me, be it physical or emotional. But somehow... I had managed to care for my made-up siblings through the course of the years that flew by, and I had fallen in love with the man who was once intent on killing me to satisfy his hunger.

I jump again when the tranquility of my room is broken by the loud obnoxious tone of my alarm clock. I am about to turn it off when I see the face of the clock.

_6 a.m._ It read. _13/10/09_

Eighteen. Today I am eighteen years old. Today is September thirteenth and I am eighteen years old.

I am eighteen, and Edward will never be.

My day has not officially started yet and already my worst fears attack me: _my made-up siblings death, fire burning me_, and _my unstoppable aging._

I shake the thoughts away as I go through my normal daily routine of showering, putting on a decent attire that hopefully Alice won't judge, eat breakfast, and then drive myself to school.

I pull up my Chevrolet truck beside Edward's unmistakable silver Volvo. Edward is there, as always, beside his prized vehicle, only second to his _Vanquish,_ whatever that meant. Beside him is his little sister (Little by structure. She's older than him by two years, physically at least) Alice, who strongly resembles a mythological creature called a pixie, due to her general smallness, cropped spiky hair and hyperactive attitude that you might think she suffers from ADHD.

I sigh as I shut my eyes for a second. I know, despite my protests, Alice went against my wishes. It's obvious, she's practically bouncing on the spot, her breath-taking smile stretched widely on her face as I see a silver-wrapped _thing _in her hands. At least Edward's reaction is more controlled, only sending a small smile to me.

There really isn't any other way to face this than just flat out _face it._

I sling a strap of my backpack onto one shoulder as I slam the car door behind me. I make my way towards the waiting Cullens, but it isn't really necessary seeing as Alice is skipping her way towards me. She throws her arms around me and envelopes me in an embrace.

"Happy birthday, Bella!"

"Shh!" I hiss at her, my eyes move frantically back and forth as I make sure no one is within human hearing range.

Alice, being Alice, ignores me. "Here," she says, handing me the square-shaped _thing_. "I've already seen you open it, and you love it!"

I am tempted to roll my eyes at her. Of course she'd seen it and of course she's optimistic about me liking her gift. Perhaps she'd only seen the act I would have to put up when I do see her gift. "I told you no presents."

Again, she ignored me. "You're going to wear it tonight. Our place."

We have reached Edward and I automatically maneuver myself to his side, my — hopefully not sweaty — palm clasping his. "I didn't know I had plans there," I say.

"Oh be fair, Bella!" she whines. "Are you really going to ruin our fun like that?"

"It's my birthday," I counter. "I thought it's about what _I_ want."

"I'll get her from Charlie's after school," Edward tells Alice.

"But I have to work!" I say.

"No you don't," Alice says, a mischievous smirk on her face. "I took the liberty of calling Mrs. Newton yesterday. She said you can take the day off, and she told me to tell you _Happy birthday_."

"B-But," I stutter, trying to weave through my mind for an excuse. "I still have to read Romeo and Juliet for English."

"You have Romeo and Juliet memorized," Alice points out.

"I haven't read it in a month. That kind of time can make a human forget important things."

Alice's warm smile is wiped from her face and a glower in my direction replaces it. "Look, Bella. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, or so help me I'll—"

Edward cut her off. "Relax, Alice. If Bella wants to catch up on her reading, let her. It is her birthday."

I have a smug smile on face.

"So I'll bring her over around seven," he continues, and I deflate. "That will give her enough time to refresh her memory on Shakespeare and give you more time to prepare."

Alice's grin makes a comeback, this time it is accompanied by her musical giggles. "Good plan, brother." She winks at me. "See you tonight, Bella! It's going to be fun, you'll see." And before I can even respond, or so much as react, she gives me a peck on the cheek and dances away to her mate, Jasper, who is waiting for her by the double doors. I sneak a glance at him and he sends me a smile. It looks genuine, but in a way, it also looks forced.

"Edward," I say as soon as Alice is with Jasper, "really, I—"

He gently presses a cool finger to my lips.

"This will be open for discussion for a later time," he says. God, I can never be as articulate as him. It is something that could only be picked up in an earlier century. Thankfully I have had some practice in my dreams with my own made-up siblings. "Right now, we have to get to class, or we'll be late."

And so we go.

The day goes on normally and is deemed passable. Students pass by me like any other day, and my human friends interact with me like they normally do. As for the Cullens which only included Edward, Alice and Jasper (Rosalie and Emmett had graduated last year and are now in college. In truth, they aren't in college. They married again and are spending their honeymoon somewhere in Africa), apparently, they are obeying my wishes and pretending it is not my birthday at all.

And that _scares _me more. If they are willing to do that, then what are they planning for tonight?

Since it mostly involves Alice, I'm sure there'd be presents and decorations that would scare the heck out of me until the end of this decade, maybe longer.

As soon as school is dismissed, Edward walks me to my truck as he did almost every day (almost because he wasn't in school when the weather was good). Instead of opening the door to the driver's side, I give him a skeptical look as he opens the one that led to the passenger's seat. Maybe Alice is taking the Volvo to their home today, so that Edward can keep me from making a run for it.

I cross my arms over my chest. I do not care at all if it's raining and possibly get a flu later. "It's my birthday. Don't I get to drive?"

"I'm pretending it's not your birthday, just as you wished," he says, but his tone is clearly worried, and I know it's because I am getting soaked from the drizzling rain.

"So if it's not my birthday, then I don't have to go to your house..."

"All right then." He shuts the door and opens the driver's side. "Happy birthday," he says with my favorite crooked smile on his face.

"Shh."

I climb in the seat as he shut the door beside me and not a second later, he was already opening the door to the passenger side, hopping in. I wipe the water that stuck to my face with my sweater as Edward turns on the heater for me.

"You know, you should be in a good mood today," he says as I am driving to my house.

"And if I don't want to be in a good mood?" I ask, my tone nervous as I think about Alice's plans.

"Too bad." And I felt a pair of icy lips press against my temple.

For the remainder of the ride to my home, Edward plays the radio, commenting now and then on its horrible reception, as I think about what he said. A tiny part of myself agrees with him that I should be in a good mood. All summer long, I had all but dreaded my birthday, fearing that I would be a whole year older than Edward, and there is nothing to stop it.

But there's something else that's bothering me.

Today is my eighteenth birthday, and I can't help but feel an irrational sense of loneliness.

_Jane and Alec._

I know they aren't real, and they will never be, but I really do wish they are at times.

Like today...

#

"Bella?"

I am snapped out of my own world when Edward calls out to me. I glance at him and finds his face is contorted into a look of anxiety.

"Are you okay?" He asks. He is looking straight into my eyes and I know he is scanning for some kind of indication in them to let him know if I really am.

It took me a second to respond. "Yes. Sorry. I guess I zoned out."

"Well," he starts, "we're here."

"What?" I look at the glass in front of me and, sure enough, the truck is parked in front of Charlie's yard. "Oh."

"Let's go inside," he tells me and there is nothing I can do but agree.

I am a bit shaken and I know he can most likely hear my fluttering heartbeat, all because of the thought of my made-up twin siblings.

_Calm down,_ I order myself, only failing to do so.

I collect my necessities and when I open the car door, he is nothing but a blur of white and copper before he is in front of me, lifting and cradling me into his arms as he walks to my house at a human pace. He keeps this up until we are in my room.

Edward and I are sprawled on my bed, with my head resting on his hard chest as I read the Shakespearean play. I decide to skip most of the playwright and jump to the part where Romeo had thought Juliet is gone, and poisons himself.

"I'll admit, I envy him here," Edward says.

"How so?" I ask as I lower the book to look up at him.

"It's something I had to think of once. Last spring, when you were nearly... killed," he pauses as he takes in an unnecessary intake of breath, "in all honesty, of course I was focused on nothing but save you, but there was a small part of me that was making plans."

"Plans?" I say uneasily, like I don't want to hear the rest of this. My mind is temporarily thrown back in time when it recounted my last encounter with the sadistic vampire, James. Back in Phoenix, where I thought he had my mother held hostage in my old ballet studio, only to find out he was lying. My left hand subconsciously brushes over the bite mark James left... the crescent-shaped scar that will forever remind me of the pain of liquid fire that once coursed through my bloodstream.

As if real fire isn't already bad enough.

"Obviously, I wasn't going to live without you," he says half-heartedly, in a tone that makes it seem like the most obvious thing in the world. "I wasn't sure how I was going to do it, but I had to provoke the Volturi somehow, knowing no one in family would dare help me."

"Wait. What's a _Volturi?_"

"The Volturi are an ancient family of our kind. They are, more or less, the equivalent of the royal family of humans. They are the ones who govern and make the rules.

"Carlisle had stayed with them briefly before he settled here in America. Do you remember the story?"

I reminisce the time I was in the Cullen residence, where Edward had told me the story about Carlisle's early life, and then the early evolutions of the Cullen family. I remember the painting he had presented to me that showed a group of men, one of them being the Cullen patriarch. He had never used the term Volturi before so it naturally had my curiosity piqued. "Of course I remember the story, but something tells me there's more to it."

He nods once before he continues. "Marcus, Caius and the leader, Aro. Anyway, you don't want to irritate them unless you have a death wish."

Horror washes over me in buckets as the revelations to his plans hits me like a speeding bus and I am suddenly pulled back into my nightmare I had this morning. I push myself off from him and I pull myself up, our faces within inches of each other.

"Don't you _dare _think like that! Ever!" I tell him urgently. "No matter what happens to me, don't you _dare_ hurt yourself!"

"I'll never put you in danger again, but with my odds, that's unlikely, so it's a moot point."

Fine. If he wants to play like this, I'll play in an equally dirty strategy. "Then tell me, Edward. If something were to happen to you," I wince at the mere thought of him hurt, "would you like me to go and _off_ myself?"

His face twists into a mask of pain and terror. "I do see your point, but I just can't see myself in a world without you."

I smile slightly. "If it makes you feel better, neither can I."

He chuckles musically before humming my lullaby he composed last year, and I didn't notice I was tired until he did. My eyelids grow heavier by the second, and before I know it, I am pulled into a world of black.

* * *

_"Sister!" Jane said happily as she made her way to me._

_"What is it, Jane, dear?" I said, gathering the crops that had already ripened for our supper._

_Alec then appeared behind her. "You work too hard, Isa," he said._

_"Of course, Alec. I have to. Should I stop, then we would have nothing to eat."_

_"But Isa!" Jane said. "Today is the anniversary of your birth. We strongly urge you to halt your duties as our caretaker, and take the remainder of the day to yourself to rest."_

_"Jane—"_

_"No. It has already been decided by us both. We shall take over your work," Alec said._

_"I cannot just—"_

_"You can and you will," Jane said. "You have been a wonderful caretaker and an even better sister. So let us take over and consider it our gift."_

_The side of Alec's mouth twitched. "Since you have all, but banned us from giving you anything."_

_I looked up and scanned them both carefully as I thought it over._

_"Fine," I finally said begrudgingly._

_And they both glance at each other, sharing private triumphant smiles._

* * *

"I thought you're supposed to read Romeo and Juliet?" He asks, and I can hear the faint tone of amusement edging his voice.

"No," I groan. "Sleep is nice. Human thing... you won't understand." It wasn't that sleep that was nice (partly, at least), but the dream that came with it. The dream had the full promises of a dream, and not a nightmare.

I wish it was longer.

I feel a cold breath tickling my ear as his melodic hushed voice says, "I'm sure I don't, but Charlie's here, and he wants to talk to you."

I stay put for a moment before a long moan escapes me, stuffing a pillow on my face. "You know how I envisioned my birthday? By sleeping through the whole day, uninterrupted." I tossed the pillow from my face and I am met with his liquid topaz eyes, light with enjoyment. Scooting back from him a little due to fear of stale breath, I say, "give me a human moment."

And I hopped out of bed in the most ungraceful way and hurry to the bathroom. There, I wash my face, biting back down the teeth chattering as the cold water meets my face, I brush my teeth until it's nothing but minty and fresh. I furiously comb my hair with the use of my fingers as I try to tame it and not look like a haystack. When it's at least deemed passable, I decide it's time to go down, knowing Edward had already left my room.

"Hey, kiddo!" Charlie says when I step down the stairs and he attacks me with a fatherly embrace. "I thought you'd take a break from anything that involves dishes, so I bought pizza. Hungry?"

"N—" I stop myself. "Sure. Thanks, Dad."

"D'ya like the presents your mom and I gave you?" He asks me.

Oh yeah, their _things_ they gave me. Charlie left me a camera that came from him and a scrapbook that came from Mom. I know that it's Mom who suggested it. Something about documenting my last year in high school.

"Yeah. They were great!" I say with much enthusiasm. "Thanks."

"No problem, hun."

I walk past him and open the box of pizza that is on the kitchen counter. Ham and mushrooms, at least he remembered my favorite. I take a bite from a slice, slowly chewing as I debate with myself if I should tell Charlie.

He seems to have noticed. "Bells, is there something wrong?" He glances at the pizza. "I thought that's your favorite."

"It is!" I assure him before I let my head drop and focus on the tiled floor.

"Then what is it? You look like you're about to make a confession."

I shift uneasily as I carefully think over my actions. "I am actually," I say slowly, sneaking a glance at him.

His eyes widen and I swear I can see his finger twitching to his gun that is resting in its holster. "What's wrong? Did Edward—"

"No, Dad! Edward didn't do anything!" That made him relax... marginally. "It's just..." My voice trails off. Edward is probably outside, eavesdropping. And then I realize I don't care. I don't care if he finds out, he is bound to sooner or later, but what I do care about are his impending questions about it.

"Yes?" My dad prompted.

Barely in a voice above a whisper, I say, "They're back." He gives me a perplexed and worried look, so I elaborate further. "The dreams."

His eyes widen again for a second before they melt into understanding. He asks, "How long has it been?"

"I don't know," I answer truthfully. "I was probably twelve when it lessened. And then after that, they only came back during my birthdays."

"Maybe that's just it then, baby," he says. "It _is_ your birthday."

I shake my head. All my dreams are _nightmares_, but on my birthday, they are never nightmares, but good dreams. The nightmare I had this morning was a first. And also because, "It's been going on for a week now..."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

And cue the knock on the door. Either Edward knew I wanted saving, or he wanted to know more, I don't really intend to find out. I was just grateful.

Charlie was the one who answered the door because he is nearer to it than I was. He was not at all surprised to see Edward at the other side of the threshold.

"Good evening, Chief Swan," Edward says courteously.

"How many times do we have to go through this, kid? Just call me Charlie." He takes a step back and opens the door wider to allow Edward through, which he did. "There's pizza, if you want."

"No thank you, sir," Edward declines politely. "My parents are arranging a dinner for Bella's birthday tonight. Is it alright if I borrow her for the evening?"

I look at Charlie, hopeful that he'd bring up a family tradition or whatnot. This is, after all, my first birthday with him since Mom moved to Phoenix and remarried to Phil. _Come on, Dad_, I pray silently in my head.

"Sure," Charlie says, and my hope vanishes. "The Mariners are playing the Sox tonight."

"Wonderful," Edward remarks happily.

Charlie flashes me a look and I make sure I give him my darkest look I could muster.

I excuse myself as I head up the stairs to change into the outfit Alice had given me. I look over it for a moment and she is right. I do like it. It's a lacy yet casual black dress with a pair of cotton leggings to go with it. There are no shoes with it, and I was almost bursting with giddy happiness because this is basically Alice's way of telling me that I don't have to wear heels!

I wear my trusty Converse.

After I'd changed into the comfortable attire, I make sure I swipe the camera Charlie gave me and bound down the stairs. I say a quick bye to Charlie before Edward and I walk out of the house.

"Say hi to Alice for me!" He says loudly before I get in the car.

"It's only been three days, Dad!" I call out, but give him a thumbs up anyway.

Edward drives in his Volvo, so I guess he went home to fetch it. As we separate from the main road, he asks me, "Can you tell me something?"

"Depends on what you want me to tell you."

"It's nothing grave, I hope, but what did you mean, _the dreams are back?_"

I sigh. "Of course you were listening."

"Bella."

"It's fine, Edward. Besides, you're right. it's nothing grave. So can we please drop it?"

He glances at me, and I know he is telling me that the matter isn't officially dropped, but nods anyway. "Please be a good sport tonight," he says, changing the topic altogether.

I sigh once more. "I'll try."

"I should warn you though," he says, and I can feel my heart begin to beat harder and faster. "They're all excited. And when I say all, I do mean _all of them._"

My jaw drops and I feel my airways betraying me, closing up that I might choke on air. "Everyone? Even Emmett and Rosalie?" He nods and I feel like the pizza I ate earlier might make a comeback in a very less appealing and more liquid appearance. "But I thought they were in Kenya?"

"Uganda," he corrects. "And Emmett wanted to be here."

"But... Rosalie?"

"She'll be on her best behavior."

I don't respond, feeling my stomach lurch as we draw nearer and nearer to his house, which its lights I can now see illuminating radiantly in this distance.

Rosalie is Jasper's _twin _sister, or at least, that's their cover story. She's the least welcoming (not welcoming at all), when Edward chose to expose his family secret to me, because it's not safe for them. I know she is just protective over her family, but a tiny part of me still sought to seek her approval, all previous attempts only ending up blowing up in my face.

And the guilt that begins to manifest at the bottom pit of my stomach and at the base of my throat grew because their trip was cut short only because of me.

He pulls up in his driveway, and before I could reach out to open my door, he is already there, opening it for me in a gentlemanly fashion.

"Let's get this over with."

Edward and I walk up the steps that led to their home's front door, and when someone opens it...

It is worse than I imagined.

As soon as I have one step through the front door, they all chorus, "Happy birthday, Bella!" in perfect synchronization. White, red and pink roses are in bowls everywhere in the living room, a pair of lit candles on each side to partner the bouquets (I wish they hadn't though. I may cook and do chemistry, but I still am pyrophobic). There is a white cloth draped on Edward's grand piano and on it lays a three-layered white cake that has the letters B-E-L-L-A on it. Surrounding the cake are gift-wrapped _things_ varying in size.

Are they planning to have me eat the entire cake? I feel my stomach pinch at the thought.

I worry my bottom lip as Carlisle, the Cullen father figure, made his way to me at a human pace.

"Sorry, Bella," he says as he gives me a hug. "We couldn't rein Alice in."

"I'm sure," I say, smiling, and then I am passed on to Esme, his wife, who greets me a _'Happy birthday, sweetheart.'_

Behind her, I can see Jasper, Alice and Rosalie. God, it's been months since I last saw her, and I forgot how inhumanly beautiful she is. She isn't smiling, but at least she isn't glaring. I immediately notice the lack of Emmett at her side, the big vampire I always affectionately consider as the big brother I've always wanted but never had.

"Time for my favorite part!" Alice says, practically frolicking her way to the piano and then to me, a big square _thing _in her hands. "Opening presents."

"Alice, I told you no—"

"And I didn't listen, naturally," she added with a wink. "C'mon, Bella!"

Unable to refuse in the presence of Esme and Carlisle, I accept the square _thing_ as graciously as I can and Alice takes the camera from me, snapping away, but I cannot contain my shock and I let it show. The box a lot lighter than expected, like it's empty. The tag on top says 'From Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper.' I shake the box and conclude that it is empty.

"Err..." I say, befuddled.

"Already installed in your truck," someone says cheerily and I am startled when I realize it's Emmett.

"So that you can't return it," Jasper adds.

"We just thought that a decent sound system for that piece of-"

"Hey," I say, interrupting Emmett. "Don't hate the truck."

He guffaws and I can't help but flush. "You know, Bella. I was expecting a perceptive change after three months, but here you are, still red-faced as always."

That only makes me blush deeper. "Thanks a lot, Emmett."

He grins, and it is so infectious that I find it impossible not to return it.

Alice hands me another square _thing,_ but this time, it is flat. "Here. This one's from me and Edward."

"Mostly mine," Edward says behind me. "After all, she did give you the dress."

"True," Alice hums in agreement.

The thing in my hands suddenly feels like it weighs thousands of pounds. "You promised," I tell him, scowling. I do not fail to notice the other member of the Cullen family has drifted closer to get a closer look.

"I didn't spend a dime," he assures me.

Curiosity getting the best of me, I begin to tear through the layers of tape and gift wrap. When I stuck my hand under the card, I feel my finger cut sliced and I grimace. "Shoot," I murmur under my breath as I hold my breath to inspect it.

And everything else just happens so fast.

There is feral snarl within the room, and before I can process anything else, I am flying backwards. I hear the sound of glass shattering as I hit something hard and fall on to the carpeted floor. I panic as I distinctly remember the lit candles and I look around frantically for a flame. I am vaguely aware that there is a throbbing stinging pain than runs on my arm. After I had convinced myself there is no fire that is going to burn me, I look up and I see six black ravenous pairs of eyes, but that and everything is drowned it to me.

Because at the moment, I am once again staring right into the two pairs of worried blue and grey eyes that belonged to my made-up siblings.

* * *

**A/N: I am overwhelmed by the amount of love you guys have given me! Seriously, you guys are so awesome! :)**

**Before I begin anything else, let me just thanks my awesome beta, _The Daughter of Night_. Thanks, girl! ;)**

**Anyway, I'm going to answer some of the reviews.**

_**(Anon) Lizzy: I have a question will bella meet again with Jane and Alec?**_

**-Yes. Bella will meet Jane and Alec again. :)**

_**Cinderfire16: You definitely have potential! **_

**-You have made my day with your entire review! I love you for that!**

_**BlueberryTwig: Loved it. I've read a few stories where the same idea came into play, but this is the only one that grabbed my attention straight off.**_

**-Oh my God, I am touched. :) Thanks so much!**

_**(Anon) Awesomesauce773: ****ps you mentioned you're a teenager. how old are you exactly?**_

** -I just turned fourteen. :)**

_**StarCollins: Bella being their sister is really interesting and I cannot wait to see how it will all play out when they cross paths once more.**_

**-Hihi, thank you!**

**I can't answer all reviews, but know that I love each and every single one of them! **

**If you liked this, please show your love by dropping a review to tell me how I'm doing, or add this to your favorites, or follow it. Any kind of love is still love.**

**Cheers, guys!**


	3. 2 — Discoveries

**CHAPTER TWO - DISCOVERIES**

**THE CULLENS**

* * *

It's as if the ambience of the room is catching up to its atmosphere. Just a minute ago, the room was lit with absolute excitement and happiness, in terms of appearance and emotions. Now, shattered glass and wax, broken piano keys and wood shavings, and bright red blood decorate the floor in a colossal art of disarray.

"Emmett, Rose, take Jasper outside!" Carlisle orders his children, stepping away from his wife.

All the Cullen and Hale members are distraught, all in their own different ways.

Alice is silently berating herself; all her anger is concentrated towards her ability to see the future. Why, of all things, did she fail to see such an outcome? She blurs upstairs to find a cloth for the blood of her sister in all but genes.

Esme feels like she is at the verge of crying non-existent tears. To have seen the girl she considered a daughter to be hurled back and crash onto a table full of glass, hurt... to see her son in so much emotional pain... to see her family in their current state. It is all too much for her to handle. She goes to the other room, and grabs a rag and a broom to clean the mess up, to take her mind off things.

Rosalie is more concerned about what Bella's blood is doing to her family, Jasper especially, than the human herself. This is just one of the things she has warned her family about, but no. They did _not_ listen to her at all. She hurries to her mate's side to help him take Jasper outside.

Emmett is not in his usual joyous self. He is currently behind Jasper, caging him in his large muscled arms to prevent him from escaping his grip. He felt genuinely bad that his little sister got hurt at her own birthday party. But there is a tiny voice at the back of his mind saying, with Bella's luck, it was bound to happen.

Jasper, still slightly overpowered by his bloodlust and everyone else's (empath, remember?), is beginning to feel that the bloodthirsty reaction of his own and his family's slowly morphing into an emotion of regret. But his mind is still teetering over the edge of reason, and is still struggling against Emmett's strong grip, who is now being carried out of the house.

Edward has the worst reaction of all. It is not one, but a hundred different emotions stirring up within him like a raging storm. It varies from anger to sorrow to anxiety to pain. He can feel his throat igniting as the blood of his mate is calling to him, but he manages to ignore it, the compassion he feels for her easily overrules it. He watches her closely as she stares blankly ahead of her, her gaze fixated on nothing in particular but knows her mind is probably a thousand worlds away. Is she scared? He has no way of knowing.

_Oh my God, this is all my fault! Why didn't I see this? I should have— Where the hell can I find a towel?!_

_Ugh, everyone is so hellbent on saving Bella. You know, Edward? If you didn't bring Bella into this, she wouldn't have been hurt!_ He winces at that.

_Oh Bella. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I wish it hadn't. You're like a daughter to me._

_Aw man. What are the odds that she gets a paper cut? Dammit, little sister..._

_Just a bite! Just a sip! The love of... LET GO, EMMETT!_

He desperately tries to ignore and push back his family's thoughts. Especially Rosalie's. She may be right on all accounts, but he _should not_ have negative thoughts now. Bella needs him, and not his ill thinking.

Carlisle is the most controlled yet most alarmed. He isn't Carlisle the compassionate vampire at the moment, he is Doctor Cullen and he is in full doctor mode.

"Let me by, Edward," Carlisle tells his son, who is in front of the injured Bella in a protective stance. A second passes before Edward nods and steps out of the way.

Carlisle falls to his knees, not bothered at all by the jagged shards of glass, and closely examines Bella's wound. The laceration she obtained is quite bad; it's long, deep and has too much glass embedded in it.

"Here," his daughter says, handing him a face towel, grimacing that she didn't find a bigger one. Edward knows his sister can find any piece of clothing in the house, but given the panic ensued upon his family...

Carlisle shakes his head. "There's too much glass in the wound." _She is bleeding fast._ Thankful for his quick vampiric mind and medical training, he quickly spots a better alternative. He rips a long shredded strip from the tablecloth and wraps it above the wound as a tourniquet to constrict her blood flow. "Bella, would you like me to drive you to the—"

The Cullen patriarch stops when he notices Bella hasn't moved at all, her eyes focused ahead. He knows she is not looking at anything in particular, but is deep in thought.

"Bella, love?" Edward says, finally breaking from his reverie when he notices something is wrong.

They receive no response.

Alice, Edward and Carlisle grow more and more anxious as they hear her heartbeat pick up its pace.

"Carlisle, what's going on?" Alice demands frightfully. She wants to keep her distance from the sweet floral scent of Bella's tempting blood, but her sense of worry overrules her bloodlust and she scoots to Bella's side, coaxing a reaction out of her.

"I don't know," he answers frustratingly. He doesn't like not knowing. "It could be from the shock but..." _but she's completely catatonic. She is supposed to show some sort of reaction by now._

Edward agrees with his father, and he has two medical degrees to prove it. Before his mind could delve deeper into his extensive knowledge on medicine, Bella shows a flicker of response, but not one he liked, much less expected.

She whimpers an unintelligible murmur and she makes a gagging noise before hurling into her own lap, not bothering to twist to her side. They watch as her brown eyes roll back and her body falls. Edward is able to catch her before her body could hit the glass. He doesn't care or mind at all that he is being covered with blood and vomit. Even Alice doesn't care.

They all stare in horror as they see her nose seep with blood and tremors begin to rock her body.

_Edward!_ Alice shrieks in her head in panic. _I can't see her future anymore! It's blurry!_

If Edward's dead heart were beating, it would have sped up and his body would have dropped dead from a cardiac arrest.

Carlisle and Edward exchange glances as Carlisle says in an authoritative voice, "Carry Bella! We have to get to the hospital now!"

#

The vampire doctor and his son was able to bring the human girl to the Forks General Hospital before her convulsions could get worse. He and a small team of EMT's were able to stabilize her in the emergency room. As soon as she was no longer twitching, Carlisle himself took care of her wound. He didn't want any of the humans to do it, fearing for possible mistakes made.

When he is sure that danger has gone and passed, he requests to have her moved into a room of her own. Of course, they listen to their sole neurologist (in truth, he could have chosen any branch of medicine, but he opted to study all of them, seeing as he is a vampire and able to indulge large quantities of knowledge without ever having to forget them. But when living amongst humans, he had to choose only one medical field to avoid unwanted speculation, and that slightly frustrates him).

Two female nurses undress the unconscious brunette out of her bloody dress and slip her in a hospital gown. Carlisle takes the dress and feels like he wants to put it in an incinerator, to burn down an object the reminds him of the tragedy. He knows perfectly well that Alice would not mind at all. He is not usually a man who thinks this vehemently, but its just that he hates it that his son and his mate had to go through these kinds of trials. He sighs and just dumps it into a trash bin, making sure no one sees him as he shreds it into pieces.

Bella is now laid on her bed, wrapped under the sterile bed covers. Her face and under her nose is clear of any blood, as well as her arms. Her expression looks peaceful, and Carlisle wishes her life was the same: _peaceful_.

But now that she is the mate of his son, an immortal being who drinks blood to satiate a never-ending feeling of burning thirst, he knows her life is not going to be a life of tranquility. But he knows as long as they remain what they are now _— in love and protective of each other_ _— _then they can overcome any obstacle.

He notices Bella's heartbeat beginning to raise, indicating that she is awake.

"Bella?" He asks gently.

"Carlisle?" Bella responds with a groan. A hand that belonged to her unbandaged arm flies to her head, rubbing at her temple. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital," Carlisle informs her gravely. Her eyes snaps open and stares at him disbelievingly before she looks around. "You got hurt at your party. Do you remember?"

She furrows her eyebrows and wrinkles her nose, obviously trying to retrieve a memory of the like. And then her facial expression unfolds into a neutral mask. "Yeah." And then her face is sorrowful. "Carlisle, I am so sorry I ruined the whole thing! If only_—_"

"Bella, it's okay," Carlisle interrupts, smiling solemnly at her. "You have nothing to apologize for."

"But_—_"

"It's fine. You did nothing wrong. Besides, it was nothing more than an accident. It could have happened to anybody."

"_Could have_," she emphasized. "It just mostly happens to me."

He tries to fight back the urge to smile again, which he fails to do so. "It does, doesn't it?" And he slips back to his doctor self. "On a more serious note, while I was tending to your wound, you seemed to be unaware of what was going on. Can you tell me what was happening?"

She shifts on her bed uneasily, like she isn't comfortable to talk about it. Before Carlisle is able to coax her into confiding in him, she answers, "I... I was having a hallucination."

_Hallucination?_ Carlisle thinks to himself. This girl he already views as a daughter was or _is_ suffering from hallucinations?

"What did you see?" He asks. "Bella, you have to tell me so I can help you. Immediately after your episode, you said something and promptly vomited."

She bites her lip and looks down, her entire face and ears are a deep shade of scarlet, clearly indicating that she does not want to talk about it. Since it isn't too relevant for the current situation, he decides not to press her and moves on, "did you get hallucinations before today?"

She nods, in a way that seems like she does not trust her own voice.

_Bella, why did you not tell me before? _He thinks._ Why had I not noticed it before? And I call myself a doctor!_

He notices that her hand has been massaging the side of her head the entire time. "Does your head hurt?"

Bella breathes out, "yeah."

_She did not downplay it. It must be bad_, he thinks, knowing Bella does not like attention and tries to make light of every injury she gets. "On a scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain?"

"Err," she gives him a thoughtful look. "Maybe... an eight."

He swallowed down an impending sigh. Why is his daughter suffering? His exterior of _doctor_ is slowly peeling away, and the panicky _father_ within him begins to resurface.

With a grave expression, he continues his interrogation."After the hallucination, your nose bled and you were having a seizure. Did you get either before?"

"Well, I've had nosebleeds, but never a seizure." She eyes Carlisle. "You know what's wrong with me?"

He sighs and writes down the newly-received information on his clipboard. After he is done, he puts the pen in his coat pocket and tucks the clipboard under his arm. "You should rest, Bella. I'm sure you're exhausted after today's events."

She pauses, giving him a doubtful look, before nodding. She adjusts herself on the bed so she is more comfortable before she closes her eyes and her breathing slows, drifting to sleep.

He advances towards her and caresses her hair in a fatherly affection. _I hope I'm wrong._

#

The Cullen residence is now not as disastrous as it looked an hour ago. The matriarch has already cleaned the living room and has gotten rid of the sweet perfume of Bella's blood with a full bottle of bleach. The youngest daughter helps her mother extract the pieces of glass shards and wood that scatter all over the marble tiles and tan carpet. When the living room is properly restored, they all settle in it, positioned on the couch and love seat.

The caramel-haired woman and the rest of the remaining Cullen children are ashen with distress except—

"Rose," the empath snaps, "what are you so damn happy about?"

The blonde female glares at her brother. "I warned all of you that _this_ would happen," she shoots back, gesturing at the spaces where their youngest sibling's broken grand piano and their mother's shattered antique table once were.

"Rosalie, there is no way we could have predicted what would have happened," their mother says softly, unintentionally making the vampire seer somber.

"You're right," the blonde says, "so if she is the one who causes our demise because the Volturi finds out about her..." she doesn't finish. She shakes her head as she withdraws from her husband's arm and stalks off to her bedroom, locking the door behind her.

#

Edward is in the waiting room in the Forks General, where he spends minutes of an agonizing eternity waiting for his father to bring some sort of news. He had taken off his polo and coat, and traded them for a clean gray shirt. He is still wearing his dark trousers, which is covered in Bella's blood and vomit.

Alice is not with him. She decides to stay back to help with Jasper. He understands. She may consider Bella as her best friend, but she felt more obliged to help her own mate first.

_"I'm sorry, Edward," she had said. "But Jasper..."_

_"It's all right," he had responded. "Jasper is going to need you more now."_

This day is one of the worst days in his entire existence. This day is supposed to be a day filled with happiness, not pain and angst. He does not blame Alice at all. Alice had no way of knowing that such a catastrophic outcome could result.

But he still wishes that Alice could have tried to see more for precautionary measures.

It's all too late now.

He contemplates over what happened. Once again, his love got hurt because of him, his family's inner nature. He stands by what he said last year.

_You'll be the death of me, Bella_.

Because her demise meant his destruction. He just can't honestly live in a world without her.

He thinks over what he should do about it. He can only come up with one solution:

_Leave_.

But he knows he can't. After what happened at the party, Bella is clearly not as healthy as she would like people to believe. If he were to leave, especially since such a crisis has risen, he _knows _it would be extremely selfish of him. He knows he can't just up and leave when Bella is obviously going to need him more than ever.

He resurfaces from the vast and deep ocean of his own mind when he hears someone's voice invade his ears and his mind.

"Oh God!" Bella's father, Charlie, cries out as he walks in the waiting room, still wearing his uniform. He catches a glimpse at Dr. Cullen's son and swiftly makes a bee line for him. His skin has a layer of sheen sweat. "Edward," he says, his voice thick with untamed worry. "Where's Bella?" _God, what happened to my baby?_

Edward gives him a grim expression and answers, "My father is tending to her right now." His tone is pained.

Charlie nods, mostly to reassure himself. Edward is glad the father of his love has such a high regard and respect for his father. The police chief asks, "What happened at the dinner, kid?"

Edward lets out a sigh. "I don't know what happened. I mean, she tripped on some glass and it cut her arm, but as my father was checking on her wound, we realize that she was non-responsive. When she did finally show some kind of reaction, she threw up before fainting... but her nose was bleeding and she started to convulse."

Charlie's eyes widens. _What? Convulse? No, not the nosebleeds again!_

The bronze haired vampire looks stunned.

_Again?_

He is about to ask, to quench the nagging thought as Charlie had thought of the words not again, but then Carlisle emerges from the corridor.

"Dr. Cullen!" Charlie rasps, half-running to the blond doctor. "How is she?"

Carlisle answers in his professional tone. "Bella's fine now. She's asleep now. I told her to rest." When Charlie nods, Carlisle continues. "Charlie, has this happened before?"

Before Edward knows it, he is reeled into Charlie's mind.

* * *

_"Bells, what happened?" Charlie demanded._

_A twelve-year-old Bella was holding a tissue to her nose. The tissue was visibly red. The sun was dully shining through the slits of her curtains. "Nothing," she said dismissively._

_Charlie sat down on the edge of the bed, trying not to look at or even smell the vomit she hacked up on the floor near her bed. "That is not nothing. What happened?"_

_She sighed and put down the tissue, the blood dripping from her nose was smeared all over her cupid's bow. "I just had another nightmare, okay?"_

_Charlie had a sense of sadness looming over him. "Sorry, baby," he said sympathetically. "Does your head hurt?"_

_She brought back the soaking tissue to her nose and nodded. "It's killing me." She had a look that crossed her features, as if she wanted to regurgitate once more._

_He nodded a few times. "Okay, I'll go get you some aspirin. And a bucket."_

_She grimaced. "Thanks, Dad."_

* * *

Edward feels like giving the man a long lecture.

What was the man doing, self-prescribing medicine to his daughter?! He should have taken her to the hospital!

And then he remembers the conversation that took place between Bella and Charlie earlier before the _mishap_.

_"They're back. The dreams."_

_"How long has this been going on?"_

_"I don't know. I was probably twelve when it lessened. And then after that, they only came back during my birthdays."_

So Bella's _dreams_ have been causing more problems that what she led on. It isn't just affecting her emotionally, like how normal nightmares are, but also physically and possibly mentally. A spark of fury ignites within him. Bella had lied to him and said _it's nothing grave_.

_Oh Bella_, he thinks, _this is more grave than I thought_.

"Yeah," Charlie answers Carlisle's question sadly, "well, sort of."

"Sort of?" Carlisle echoes, raising a brow.

"When she was younger, she'd always get nosebleeds and a migraine, and sometimes she'd puke... They usually happen in the morning..."

Carlisle's eyes widens at the newly-discovered revelations and in nanoseconds, his mind is racing.

Edward can't help but watch the thoughts of his father.

_Nosebleeds, headaches, vomiting, the seizure, her poor balance, the hallucinations, she's a bit underweight for her height and age... and doesn't she get easily distracted at some points?_

_Hallucinations? _Edward thinks appallingly.

_But why are these symptoms returning? It seems she hasn't had these symptoms in years... _Carlisle continues, only pushing Edward further to the cliff of sanity.

It's Edward's turn to have his eyes widen, the sheer force of the discovery his father had pieced together strikes him like a million-watt lightning. Suddenly, he wishes he doesn't have his two medical degrees to conclude what his father is thinking.

His love, his soul mate, his Bella... She can't possibly—

"Doc," Charlie says, interrupting Carlisle and Edward's identical trains of thought. "Can I take my daughter home?"

"I'm sorry, Charlie," Carlisle says slowly. "Bella can go home tomorrow morning. She has to stay here for the night so we can monitor her, and in case she gets another seizure, we can sustain her immediately."

"Okay."

"But she has to come back in the afternoon."

"Okay," Charlie repeats, this time it is more nervous. "But can I ask why?"

"I want to arrange an MRI scan for her tomorrow."

_MRI scan?_ Charlie thinks in horror. "What? _Why?_"

"Charlie, there is no other way to say this but... I think she has a brain tumor."

* * *

_Five thousand four hundred eighty miles away..._

* * *

"I'm telling you, sister, she lives!"

"And? So what if Isa lives? It's not her!"

"Jane, this is our chance at redemption."

"Redemption?! She did not die by our hand. She was _burned_ at the stake by that wretched Aldrin, in case you have forgotten!"

"Redemption for us, you fool! Look at us! We're over a thousand years old, but are we truly happy? No we're not because our happiness was tethered with Isa. She died alongside our humanity!"

"That is how it's _supposed_ to be! Alec, listen to yourself, you sound ludicrous! Like you said, that was over a thousand years ago! _This_ is our home now!"

"But, Jane—"

"And so what if Isa is alive? That does _not_ mean it's her, Alec! She is just most likely a human doppelganger of our sister. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I don't care. I want to see her. Please, Jane, at least accompany me on my journey."

"Even if you drag me, brother, Aro would have our heads when we come back. Humans aren't allowed our secret."

"The human need not know our secret. I just want to see her for myself..."

"Oh bother with— _Fine_. If Aro decides he does not need us anymore and has us executed, I'll make sure to make the afterlife for you a living hell. To where are we venturing to anyway?"

"To err... aha, here it is. To a town called Forks that is located in Washington, USA. And the girl's name is _Isabella Swan_."

* * *

**A/N: 21 reviews, 32 favorites, 41 followers and over a thousand views? Oh, the amount of love I received... YOU GUYS ARE SO AMAZING!**

**First, I apologize for all mistakes made.**

**Next chapter, I think you guys are going to love it. It's going to have more flashbacks, more family fluff, more angst and a hell lot of medical jargon. Don't worry, I'm going to make the medical stuff as accurate as possible.**

**If**** you liked this, please show your love by dropping a review to tell me how I'm doing, or add this to your favorites, or follow it. Any kind of love is still love.**

**Cheers, guys!**


	4. 3 — Tests

**CHAPTER THREE - TESTS**

**BELLA**

* * *

It was Carlisle who broke the ice to me about my condition.

_"But Doc," Charlie had begun, "why are these symptoms coming back? She hadn't been bothered by any of 'em in years."_

_Carlisle had a pained look underneath his professional demeanor. "I can't be certain it _is_ a tumor until we have the results. But to answer your question, Charlie: it all depends on the tumor. In Bella's case, I'm suspecting a benign brain tumor, meaning it is non-cancerous. Perhaps the tumor was active when she was a child, became dormant for a few years and has once again become active. At least that's my theory."_

I'm in my house now. It's a Saturday today, so, fortunately, there is no school.

Edward and I are settled on the couch, with my head on his lap as he strokes my hair. It has been probably two hours since I am released from the hospital, only to find out I have to go back in the afternoon for an MRI scan for my brain, because apparently there's something wrong with it.

Possibly a brain tumor.

My dad was anxious, fervently so. An MRI exam is extremely expensive for a chief of police of a small town. Edward stepped forward and assured Charlie that expenses will be taken care by his family. Like me, my dad has a hard time accepting really big-priced offers. Even I refused. But Edward convinced Charlie that it was fine, that it was Carlisle even who came up with the plan. Not wanting to offend Edward's father, he reluctantly agreed.

"Maybe that's why you can't read my mind," I tell Edward teasingly. "Because the glitch in my brain is actually a tumor."

My Adonis-like vampire tilts his head slightly and his liquid topaz eyes have the intensity in them that can probably ignite a forest fire. I flinch under his gaze.

"It's not a brain tumor," he says evenly, his nostrils flaring.

"But Carlisle said—"

"Carlisle is not sure what it may be!"

I sigh. There is no point to arguing with Edward. Why is he so worked up on this? Why aren't _I_ worked up on this? Shouldn't I be deathly afraid of the fact that brain cells that don't die are growing at an alarming speed in my brain?

I know I should be.

But I'm not.

There is still a dull throbbing somewhere in the unreachable corner in my head, but I try to push it away as I press the bridge of my nose with my forefinger and thumb in an Edward-esqe way, shutting my eyes close. It isn't long before I feel his cool marble hands wrapping around me.

"I'm sorry," he whispers into my ear, tickling me with his cool breath.

I sink into his arms and let my hand fall to my side, resting my head on his shoulder. "It's fine. I know you're scared. I would be too."

And he is suddenly rigid. "_Would be_?" He repeats. "What do you mean _would be_? Are you not at all worried about your health?"

"Of course I worry about my own health! It's just... those symptoms Carlisle pointed out have been around with me since I was a child. I guess I got... used to them."

His lips press against my hair. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I didn't think it matters," I say before I can revise it. It sounded better in my head. And I regret them immediately because it opened up a floodgate.

"Bella, of course it matters!" He exclaims, causing me to slightly jump. He kisses my forehead. "Sorry. But, love, you know your health and safety are my number one priority. Why didn't you think it mattered to share this with me?"

I let my teeth graze over my lower lip for a second before looking up at him. "Edward, I didn't think it mattered because I haven't experienced them in years. I thought it was gone for good, until my party..." I grimace as I think back to what happened. "Edward, I'm so sorry that I blew the whole thing for you and your family! I mean, Alice was so happy, and-and Rosalie only came to-"

His cool finger is on my lips, and I stop abruptly.

"It's not your fault, Bella," he says gently. "Like Esme and Carlisle said, there was no way of predicting what could have happened. If there was, Alice would have seen it."

"Edward—"

"No. I want you to stop blaming yourself for something you didn't do. Now, moving on to lighter topics," he twists his body around and reaches for something behind the sofa. His hands make a reappearance, this time with the _things_ I didn't get to open at my party as his guests. He places them on the coffee table in front of us. "Open them."

I fight the urge to heave a sigh. I don't want to open the _things_. I know Carlisle and Esme most likely spent money on my gift... but I can't be rude to them. And Edward did promise that he didn't spend a dime on mine, so with my curiosity piqued, I push myself off from him, with his hand behind my back to assist me, and settle in a sitting position. I take his parents' gift first, which is a long flat rectangle box. Nervous and terrified that I might relive the events yesterday (I trust Edward, I'm just scared), I hand him the _thing_ sheepishly and ask, "Open it for me?"

He gives me my favorite crooked smile and in one fluid moment, the silver wrap is torn off and the only job available now is to lift the lid, which he offers me to do. I feel like a child about to get picked for the Reaping from the dystopian novel I read over the summer called the Hunger Games (poor Rue...) as I remove the cardboard top.

And then from a child about to sacrificed, I now have the energetic aura from a child in Christmas Eve.

"Oh my God!" I squeal. "No way!"

Inside the rectangular box lay a voucher for plane tickets reserved for myself and for Edward.

"We're going to Jacksonville?" I stage-whisper, excitement seeping through me.

"That's the idea," he says, burying his face into my hair. I can feel his crooked smile wide on his face.

"I can't believe it!" I exclaim. "Renee is going to flip! You don't mind though, do you? It's sunny; you'll have to stay inside all day. And then there's Phil. You'd probably like him although-"

He silences me with a kiss. His lips mold against mine in a perfect shape, but this time, he is not committed to the kiss as the edges of his lips are pulled up in a smile. He pulls back and caresses my cheek.

"I can handle being inside all day," he says, still grinning. "I feel a tiny bit bad though. Had I known you'd respond like this, I would have made you open it in front of Carlisle and Esme. I thought you would complain about the expense of the gift."

"Of course, it's..." I shift around, "too much. But I get to take you with me!" I smile a little. "It's sweet of them."

He chuckles and kisses the side of my head again. I feel my face slowly become hot. "Now I wish I'd spent money on your present. I didn't realize that you were capable of being reasonable."

My eyebrows furrows as I set the box back on the coffee table. I swipe at his gift for me. I have probably never been this curious in my entire life.

His gift is not wrapped. It's just a normal CD case with a label upfront that says, _To my other half._ Way to be cheesy, Edward. I open the case and find a blank silver CD resting inside. I shove the gift to him, hysterical once again.

"Put it in!" I say, pointing at the stereo. He obliges easily while I turn off the T.V. by way of remote. The music starts playing after I had lain my head on his lap again. I listen to it tentatively, unable to formulate rational words as the melodic tunes of the piano lift its soulful and musical trail to me. Tears spring from my eyes, spilling onto my cheek. Edward wipes them away with his cool fingers.

"Does your arm hurt?" He asks anxiously.

I let out a shaky laugh. Blubbering, I say, "no. Not my arm. The CD... Edward, the CD... it's beautiful." I put my hands on either side of his face and say, "thank you."

Once again, he smiles, fully this time and brings his lips to my nose. "Of course, you beautiful girl."

He laughs his musical laughter as I feel the rush of liquid embarrassment leaking to my cheeks. He pulls back and goes back to letting his hands stroke my hair while I listen to all the piano compositions. The first track is my lullaby.

These are the moments I try so hard to treasure, especially now that I had a suspected benign brain tumor. I barely even notice the slight stinging burn in my arm and the small pounding in my head.

But my mind and stomach aren't in the same page apparently.

After five beautiful songs, I feel my stomach pinch in an unwanted familiar sensation before I growled quite loudly. It isn't loud enough for human ears to pick up.

But Edward isn't human.

"Time for the human to eat," he says.

"No," I say, ducking my head to the side. "I'm not hungry." And cue the second rumble.

He chuckles. "Your stomach says otherwise. C'mon. Up you get. I'll buy you takeout."

"Edward, you don't have to. I can cook."

"Nonsense. Charlie said you're still privileged to another cook-free day."

"There's no point in me arguing is there?"

He flashes me his crooked smile, dazzling me. "No."

He tugs on my hand and leads me to his silver Volvo. Like always, he opens the door open for me and I slide in, sitting comfortable on the leather seat. I glance at the digital clock on the dashboard and immediately check the time.

13:03, it reads.

I don' think it's not only my hunger he is trying to satisfy, but also both our desire to know more about the hidden secrets my brain has cooped up all this time.

#

He ends up driving all the way to Port Angeles just to get me a burger, fries and a milkshake. I would normally opt for something healthier, but Carlisle's words about me being underweight stuck to me that I wanted something fattening for the heck of it.

He let me eat in the car (which is actually surprising because I know how much he loves his car. It's flattering that he holds more care for me than his beloved vehicle, much opposed to other boys). As he drives back to Forks, I notice he is slower than usual. Normally, the needle would be twitching over a hundred. Now, it's barely even seventy. By the time he parks it in front of Forks General, it is two forty five p.m. and all my food has been devoured. I didn't finish the strawberry milkshake though; I don't want an upset stomach for the duration I am going to spend under a big machine.

Edward kills the ignition.

"Here goes... everything," I murmur, mostly to myself.

Edward catches my chin between his thumb and forefinger, pulling me to his face until his lips land on mine. It's not the usual kind of kiss he gives me, and it doesn't have the sense of desperation like last year before I flew off to Phoenix.

No, this one is more gentle and fueled with passion that it's like I'm extremely brittle and could combust at any moment. It's a few seconds before he releases me and I pant for the oxygen my lungs need. His golden eyes are trained on mine. I feel like his heated gaze is digging through layers of myself, trying to reach to my core, to my soul. It's a moment later before the golden tranquility that has wrapped around us falls by his voice.

"I love you so much, Bella," he says, pouring as much emotion as he can into a six worded sentence (yes, I counted).

I pull his face back to mine, hungrily pressing my lips against his wintry ones. Before he can stop me, I pull away, but just so our lips are no longer touching. Our foreheads are pressed together and I whisper back, "I love you, too."

We stay in our little bubble of intimacy before I decide it's time to go. We walk through the glass doors hand in hand as we make our way to Carlisle's office. Edward courteously knocks on the door that holds a sign that says:

_Dr. Carlisle Cullen, M.D._

_Head Neurologist_

I snigger to myself. Carlisle is the _only_ neurologist Forks had. There was another one, Dr. Cooper, but he retired about six months ago. I hear a faint, "come in," from inside the room, and Edward takes this as a cue to go in. I trail behind him.

Carlisle looks up and gives us a warm smile, putting down his pen. "Hello, Edward, Bella," he says.

"Hey, Carlisle," I greet back.

Edward tows me to one of the leather seats and I plump down onto the soft cushion. There is a comfortable silence around us for a few moments, and I know Carlisle is probably talking to Edward with silent words because I can see Edward shaking his head or nodding in response.

Carlisle clears his throat and pushes a sheet of paper and the pen he was using to me.

"What's this?" I ask, glancing at Carlisle.

"It's a safety form," he informs me. "This is customary for all patients who are to go through an MRI scan."

"Shouldn't my dad fill this out?"

"For this one, no. You're eighteen, and these questions are _for_ you to answer."

"Oh, okay. I just didn't know the tests today actually involved written exams."

I hear both Edward and Carlisle chuckle, and I can't help but join in. I take the pen and study the piece of document handed to me.

_MRI Safety Questionnaire_

_Please note that the MRI scanner uses a powerful magnetic field. We need to make sure that you are safe to enter the scanning room. As initial procedure, please take note of the following:_

_1. A locker will be provided to you so **all** items you remove may be stored and locked away during your scan. You may bring the key in the scanning room with you_

_.2. Remove **all** jewelry, metal body piercings and hair accessories._

_3. Remove **all** clothing and change into the hospital gown provided. Slippers will be provided._

_4. Please use the restroom before your MRI examination._

_5. Please make sure that you receive a pair of earplugs or headphones before your examination._

I stop reading. I bite my lip before looking up to ask Carlisle. "Carlisle?"

"Yes?" He answers.

I don't glance down at myself; I remember what clothes I'm wearing: a loose sweater, a pair of jogging pants, my Converse… I have never been more thankful that I remember to wear a hook less sports bra today. I have never had an MRI scan before, but I know that metal is bad for a machine like it.

But I still had to know, "do I still need to change?"

He gives me a thoughtful look. "As long as you're not wearing any metal on you—"

"Which I'm not."

"Then it's not necessary. You're going to have to remove your shoes, though, prior to your scan."

"Done." I smile.

I look back down at the questionnaire and begin answering the basic questions like name, date of birth, sex, height… I leave out the _weight_ section, however. I don't know my own weight. Last time I weighed myself, I was a hundred and ten pounds. And that was last spring, when the sadistic vampire tracker tortured me. Now, I am probably under a hundred, maybe ninety pounds. I bite my lip as I push the thought away.

_The following may be harmful to you during the scan or may interfere with the examination. Please provide a _yes_ or _no_ answer for every item._

Most of the answers have check marks in the box for _no_. The only check mark for _yes_ is for the question _any type of surgery?_ Yes, I've had surgery. I was a child and had a pencil shoved in my shoulder that it had to be surgically removed. Don't ask how that happened.

I pause when I reach the question _claustrophobia?_ I know I don't have claustrophobia, but itching at the back of my brain, I have a tiny fear from tight spaces. But it's manageable, at least. So I check _no_.

I feel my face become hot when I reach the question _For female patients:_ _is there any chance of you being pregnant?_ Oh my God, how am I supposed to answer that? I know the question is meant _biologically_ but I can't stop myself as I take a peek at Edward, whose eyes are on Carlisle, deep in conversation with his father. Before I let myself get caught, I glance back down at the offending question. Biting my lip, I check on _yes_.

When my weight and Carlisle's signature are all that's left, I unclick the pen, put it on top of the paper and push it back to the blond doctor. He takes the document and clips it on his clipboard, reading through the whole thing before he says, "Let's get to it, then."

#

I let Edward go home.

It took a lot of convincing, but eventually I won. I just don't want Edward to be here if the worst really is true.

I lay on the cold slab beneath me. Carlisle is conducting the test alone. He says he doesn't want anyone else to interfere and so that he can give me the results immediately. I am thankful. Of course Carlisle is also trained in radiology, not needing anyone else to make any preliminary evaluations for him. And also, this machine is one of his many generous donations to the town. He slips a cushion underneath my legs.

"It's to take some pressure off your back," he informs me, and I nod in response.

When I read about the initial procedure of the scan, I thought it was lengthy and complex. But practical is much different from theory alone. Carlisle hands me a pair of headphones and I put them over my head and on my ears. It does not completely block out sound, but it drowns out most of it. Carlisle then gives me another object. This time it an oblong pump connected to a wire. He says I should just squeeze it should I become uncomfortable or have to talk to him.

"Remember, Bella," he says, "this test is going to be take half an hour, possibly more."

"Yeah," I respond, for the lack of a better word.

After that, he positions a white large thing over my head, its side cushioning my head. He explains that it's called a coil and it's basically the antenna to get a good look at my brain. After that, he lifts the bed and I am being positioned in the center of the scanner. I imagine myself being pulled into a vortex.

"You have to stay still the entire time so as to not disrupt the scan, okay, Bella?"

"Sir, yes, sir," I say. Unable to give him a salute, I opt for an upraised thumb instead. I receive a laugh from him.

It isn't long before I hear a faint shut of a door. And then I can hear Carlisle's voice through the headphones.

"If you feel uncomfortable in anyway, just squeeze the call button and we will take a break. The exam will now start."

I hear the machine begin to groan to life, but Edward's piano compositions drone out the noise. Earlier, I asked Carlisle if he could play Edward's gift during the exam. He complies immediately and says it's a great idea to distract myself. I let myself get lost in the tunes of the piano and before I know it, I am lulled into darkness...

* * *

_"Sister," Alec said, "I think Jane is unwell for today."_

_"What?" I said, alarmed. I put down my basket and dashed to our hut. As soon as I was inside, I see Jane's small figure lying on our bed. Her hair was a matted mess with tendrils sticking to her sweat-covered face._

_"Oh Jane, darling," I crooned as I dropped to my knees to check on her temperature. I delicately put a finger upon her forehead, and her skin was noticeably warmer than usual. Jane had contracted a disease._

_I heard the door creak open._

_"Alec," I called, knowing it was him. "Do you think you can handle my chores at present? I have to gather herbs for Jane."_

_"Of course," he said._

_I craned my neck to look at him and the edges of my lips curled up. "Thank you, puppy."_

_His grin slowly transformed into a frown. "I am no longer a toddler, Isa," he said, grumbling. "Can you at least address me by my name or find a more suitable epithet? I am a man, sister."_

_My smile grew wider. "A man, you say, brother? Has eleven years of life made you a man? And what is wrong with my epithet for you? I bestowed it upon the brother I love and took care of. I think I have the liberty to call you anything."_

_"But, Isa! Puppy? Puppy is for _infants_!"_

_"And what is the matter? In my eyes, I still see a small boy crying when I leave the room. But if it bothers you so... how about wolf?"_

_He pondered over it for a short length of time, and his childish grin returned. "Yes, that is better. It suits a man as brave and strong as I."_

_"Of course it does." I stood up and put on my cloak, my late father's cloak. "Watch over Jane while I'm gone."_

_"But you had instructed me to do your chores."_

_"I have complete faith in you that you can handle both." I pushed my feet to walk to him and brought my hands up to his hair to ruffle it. "My brave, strong little wolf."_

* * *

I feel myself moving downwards. It's the movement that arouses me awake, and also the slight pounding in my head. My nose recognizes the antiseptic smell and my eyes are attacked by bright lights. I remember that I am in the hospital.

"Finally awake then, Bella?" I hear a male say. As a blur of white remove the thing... what's it called? Right. As a blur of white remove the _coil_ and I feel relief as my head is released. Above me, I see Carlisle. I am aware that I still had the headphones on, but there is no more music, so I take it off. I start to prop myself up, and Carlisle helps me.

"Sorry, Carlisle," I say sheepishly. "I wasn't supposed to fall asleep, was I?"

He gives me a smile. "No. But you were still the whole time, so it was no problem."

My eyebrows furrow. The whole time? "Wait, how long did the scan take?"

"Precisely thirty six minutes."

"So... how is it? My brain? Do I have a tumor?" I ask casually, but deep down, I'm anxious.

"I'm sorry, Bella. The result is not yet available. I have to interpret the scans. Wait for me in my office. I will be able to tell you and Charlie in about half an hour."

"Charlie? He's here?"

"Yes. He's in my office, waiting for you."

I nod as I stalked out of the scanner room, saying a quick _thanks_ to Carlisle before shutting the door. I'm still in my socks. I don't stop to put my shoes on; I just hold them by the laces in my hands. I arrive at Carlisle's office and found my dad, in his uniform, propped on the seat Edward was sat earlier. And Edward is here. I guess Alice told him my scan is over. As soon as I walk in the room, Charlie sees me and crosses the room to give me an embrace.

"How was it, baby?" He asks in my hair before pushing me away, but just at arm's length.

"I don't know," I say, drawing out worried expressions from both of them. I bite my lip before saying, "I kind of... fell asleep."

Charlie guffaws. I even see Edward attempting to mask his own outbursts of mirth by coughing. I roll my eyes. Charlie steers me to his chair and makes me sit.

"No, Dad. I'm fine. You sit."

"I'm fine, Bells."

I want to argue that if Carlisle brings those scans and the worst really is true, he will certainly not be fine and will need to sit down.

But I tame my tongue.

Edward leans in closer to me and drops a lingering kiss on my forehead. "You'll be fine," he says, but I know he is reassuring himself more than he is reassuring me. I'm still a bit shocked. He is usually more decent in Charlie's presence. I guess he is too anxious.

"Of course I will," I agree. "I'm a fighter."

"Indeed you are."

I think he is thinking about my many near-death experiences and came back up, kicking my way back, resilient as ever. But I am thinking about my imaginary medieval life that is bound to my made-up twin siblings. All I had done for them in my dreams... I don't think I can ever do what I do for them in my dreams. Maybe I can for Edward, but I'm not as brave as I think I am in my fantasies. That was proven when I thought I was courageous enough to face James on my own.

It is then when the door opens and in came my doctor and the other father figure in my life. His face does not look grim, which is good, I guess. But he has an expression that borders between curiosity and frustration, a look that most doctors have. He is, not at all, shocked to see Edward.

He sits on his seat behind the desk. The air is thick with tension that you can probably cut a knife through. It's a few moments before Carlisle speaks.

"It's not a brain tumor," he says.

"Thank God!" My dad cries, clapping a hand on my back gently. But I am staring at Carlisle. It should be good news, but his expression says a different story.

"There's something, isn't there?" I ask Carlisle.

He sighs and sets on the table a tan envelope, my scans in them, most probably. "That's the problem, Bella. There's _nothing._"

"What?" Edward and Charlie chorus.

Carlisle lets out two scans from the envelope and lays them on the table side by side. He points to the one on the right. "This is the brain of a normal eighteen-year-old female." He then brings attention to the on the left. "This is your brain. As you can see, there are no differences at all. The machine didn't pick up anything wrong."

"So, what is it then, Doc?" Charlie asks.

"Maybe what Bella is going through has no connection to her brain," Edward suggests, but doubt colors his tone.

Carlisle shakes his head a little. "Son, her symptoms say otherwise." He looks at me apologetically. "Do you mind if we do another test?"

My jaw almost drops. "Another one?"

"But Doc, wasn't the one she just took enough?" Charlie asks. His tone clearly indicates that he is more worried about my welfare. I'm more worried about the price Carlisle is going to pay with all these tests.

"Sadly, it wasn't," Carlisle answers. "The MRI scanner is only capable of picking up brain abnormalities. You don't have any, but your health and symptoms clearly indicate there there is _something_."

"You're going to use the fMRI," Edward states. I don't miss that it wasn't voiced as a question.

Carlisle nods. "Yes." He then addresses to me and Charlie. "The fMRI, called Functioning Magnetic Resonance Imaging, is a new piece of technology that uses the same magnetic field as the MRI scanner, but the MRI scanner, as I said, is intended for finding anomalies in the brain. But the fMRI is meant for measuring brain activity."

"So," I say, "you wanna see if my brain isn't working normally?"

"Not what I would say," Carlisle says, "but in the sense, yes."

I shrug. "I'm fine with it."

#

I left Edward and Charlie in Carlisle's room, where Charlie decided to kill time by watching a game. Carlisle directs me to a different scanning room, but inside it is relatively the same as the previous large machine, but it's more open, and by open I mean it doesn't have the same cylindrical shape. It remind me of a mixing bowl.

Carlisle helps me on the padded table. It's just as cold as the previous machine.

"As you can see, it's significantly different from an MRI."

"I'll say."

After I'm settled, he pats my arm before exiting to the control room. I am skeptical. He didn't give me any sort of protection for my ears or put a _coil_ on my head, even the bed isn't positioned. But he is the doctor-slash-radiologist here, I guess he knows what he's doing. His voice through the speakers breaks my line of thought.

"Can you hear me?" He asks.

I turn my head to my side to see him through the glass pane. His face looks tired and nervous. "Loud and clear," I reply.

"Normally for an fMRI scan, a patient will be asked to do an activity while the scan is being taken."

My nose wrinkles and my eyebrows pull together. "What, like a quiz?"

"Sometimes. But for you, you're not going to be doing anything. I just want to see your brain activity." The table beneath me begins to move, startling me just a bit. "Should you feel uncomfortable in any way, just speak up."

"Uh... how long is this going to take?"

"Fifteen minutes tops."

So I just lie there. Every so often, I hear a beeping noise. The machine is noisy, but presumably not as noisy as the former one, seeing as I wasn't given any earplugs or headphones. I can see a red laser of some sorts pass over me, like how a computer scanner or photocopier copies print on paper. I begin to think of paper, and then burnt paper, and then its ashes... and the color of gray eyes fills my mind, and I am reminded of my made-up twin siblings.

_My little wolf_...

I feel the edges of my lips lifting into a ghost of a smile as I remember the rest of that dream: how Alec pouted when I called him puppy. Jane was sick, I remembered that, and a warm feeling spreads through me when I came back home after gathering the herbs needed and found the two of them in our bed, holding each other like how they did when they were babies.

God, how can someone just completely fall in love with wonderful, compassionate, _imaginary_ thirteen-year-old twin siblings? Am I bordering the edge of insanity? Or do I just possess an amazing amount of creativity?

I'm going to go with the former.

More red lights flash up and down, and before I know it, they're gone and my bed is moving down.

"It's done," Carlisle's voice fills the room, but not from the speakers. I squirm to my side and see him walking back into the scanning room. "How was it?"

"Bright," I say. I study his face, it looks different now. Worry and awe. Perplexed by that latter, I ask, "so, how's my brain? Does it have like a weird shape?"

He gives off a laugh. "Not in the slightest."

"Strange. I thought it does, seeing as I some how repel mental invasions."

He smiles, but it fades quickly. "You should get back to my office. I'll just have to prepare your scans."

I hop off the table. "Okay."

#

When I come back, I find Charlie slapping his leg repeatedly as his anticipation and excitement spikes over the roof. He doesn't notice me until I walk across his line of vision to Edward.

"Hey, Bells," he says, sparing me a glance. "That was quick."

"Yeah," I say as I sit on the arm of Edward's chair. He immediately gets to his feet and offers me his chair. Knowing I can't win this argument, I just comply. Not one full minute later (Charlie's team scored), Carlisle walks in, his laptop tucked under his arm.

Charlie reluctantly turns off the television set and focuses his attention on my doctor.

"So how was it, Doc?" He asks straight-forwardly.

"New," Carlisle replies, his eyes with a sheen of... curiosity in them. He opens his laptop and directs it toward us, but not so much that he can't see. "This is your brain," he says, pointing at the image on the screen. I immediately notice that a majority of it is colored red, some of it is blue and green. "These," he points at all the red areas, "are the most active parts of your brain, which is... different."

"Different?" I wrinkle my nose.

"You see, this is your medial temporal lobe here, and you can see that it is the most active, particularly your entorhinal cortex and perirhinal cortex, where explicit memories, personal long-term memories, are stored. Your hippocampus, which is the one here, and parahippocampal gyrus, which is this thin membrane around, are significantly larger than the norm."

I notice Charlie scratching his head. He obviously is trying to catch up to Carlisle's medical jargon. I'm trying, too.

"What's the problem then?" Edward asks, his tone dripping heavily of impatience.

Carlisle switches to another image. "I discovered that Bella's symptoms may be caused by a misfiring of neurons. These neurons here mostly attack those areas I just mentioned, like how white blood cells attack diseases."

"So my own body is betraying me?" I ask incredulously. Goddamn, body.

"In a sense, it seems so. The misfiring of neurons is what triggers your symptoms. Another thing I found interesting is that your prefrontal cortex, another _pocket_, if you will, for long-term memories, is not bothered by the attack of the neurons. It does, however, seem to be growing more so than normally."

I hear Edward suck his breath, and I know that's a bad sign.

Carlisle changes the image again. This time it's a black and white illustration of my brain, but with a red splat in the middle. "This," he points at the red, "is your amygdala, it's linked to human emotions. During the scan, it was also quite active. This is the brain's exaggerated reaction when one sees or thinks about someone or something that they love." He looks at me. "Can you tell me what you were thinking back there?"

I bite my lip. What should I tell them? That I was thinking about the made-up memories I have of my made-up siblings? Or should I lie? I sigh and say, "Dogs. I was thinking about dogs."

It isn't a lie really. Technically, I really _was_ thinking about dogs.

"Dogs?" I hear the faint tone of amusement in Edward's voice.

"Yeah. I was just remembering how I... wanted a dog in Phoenix. But then Mom said no because she's allergic."

"Could have told me, kid," Charlie tells me. "I could have gotten you a dog."

"It's fine. I don't want one anymore. Besides, I don't think I would like a German Shephard."

He beams a little before he turns back to Carlisle, his demeanor back to serious. "So, how do we fix this?"

We all look at Carlisle, hearts in our throats as we patiently waited for answers. His butterscotch orbs grazes at each of us. Defeat coats them, and suddenly, I don't want to hear his answer because I already know. I wish he isn't going to speak, but he is and it's, "I'm sorry, Charlie, but I don't know."

* * *

**A/N: **

**NOTE: ALL MEDICAL INFORMATION HAS BEEN RESEARCHED THOROUGHLY AND IS MADE TO BE MOSTLY PRECISE. HOWEVER, THIS IS FICTION AND SHOULD NOT BE IMMEDIATELY BE TAKEN IN AS TRULY ACCURATE.**

**So... that was hard.**

**I'm sorry for all grammar, spelling and medical information mistakes made.**

**Did you guys love it? Like it? Absolutely hate it and condemn it to hell? Well, whatever you think, hit the review and tell me what you think!**

**As for the questions regarding to how Alec discovered Bella, it won't be revealed soon, but it will be explained how. So... yeah.**

**To Kadee: goddammit, woman! XD You could have checked! You know I suffer from ADHD! XD**

**So... that's about it. Thank you to everyone who supports this story! I love all of ye!**

**CHEERS!**

**-LUNA**


	5. 4 — Bloodshed

**A/N: The chapter you've all been waiting patiently for...**

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR - BLOODSHED**

**THE CULLENS**

* * *

For a small town with ever-present rain, the lack of the familiar pitter patter of drizzling beyond the house is a good sign; the promise of an _actual_ nice day. The kind of day Bella will absolutely appreciate, due to its rare occurrence.

The copper-haired vampire and mahogany-haired human lie on the girl's bed. She is under the covers, protected from his cold and wintry skin temperature. This scenario is usual for them that they aren't used to _not_ being with each other when the sun decides to rise and stretch its golden hands through her bedroom window.

His Bella wakes up with her head on his chest, like usually, but this time, it's different, and he can't imagine a worse way for her to wake up. Her eyes flies open, frightened, as she punches him in the chest to push herself up. Had he been human, his chest would have been bruised. She dashes to the bathroom and crouches beside the toilet where she heaves into it. He is right by her side in a second to hold her hair up and to soothingly rub her back in circular motions.

"Go away," she moans, "I don't want you to see this."

"Nonsense," he answers back as he continues to run his hand on her back as nausea attacks her again.

He is deeply worried. His eyebrows are scrunched together, like he is trying to keep himself from letting his non-existent tears from dropping. He is keeping her hair out of her face, waiting until she is done.

"Please, Edward, just go."

"Not likely, Bella."

If she thinks he is repulsed by her, then she is horribly wrong.

As tears roll down her cheeks profusely, he could feel venom stinging behind his eyes as if it were saline for a human. She gasps and a coughing fit ensues. She pushes him a little and he automatically releases his hold on her hair and takes a step back. She flushes the the toilet and pads her way to the sink, rinsing her mouth thoroughly. He knows her nausea is over and decides to give her the privacy she wants, so he steps out of the bathroom but keeps close proximity in case something might happen.

He actually has had his suspicions that Bella is, not ill, but distressed. When she sleeps, she usually talks about her mother, her father, Phil, him, his family... But for the past week or so, nothing. Not even a word. He would really suffer from an anxiety attack had he not been listening to her heartbeat and watching her chest move up and down.

Charlie isn't in the house anymore, he left to go to the station. But shortly before departing the house, he quickly checked on his daughter and plated a kiss upon her head. "You better get well, baby," he whispered to her. He choked a little as he said, "Don't do this to your old man."

Edward had been hiding in her closet the whole time (due to the lack of other hiding spots) and he felt incredibly moved by his love's father. He is glad that Bella has a father that loves her genuinely.

But he cannot concentrate on such things, or anything in particular, knowing his love, his mate, his _soul _mate is just a door away, hopelessly sick.

And no one, not even his father, knows how to help, or what it is in the first place.

#

Meanwhile, back in the Cullen mansion, Emmett desperately tries everything to confront his wife after what happened last Friday night (No, do _not_ play the Katy Perry song), but to no avail. So he tries to enlist the help of his brother (Well, more of his brother's ability to manipulate emotions)... that is, if he comes out of his room.

"Jasper, you little prick—"

"Emmett!" Their mother scolded from the kitchen, where she is preparing a meal for her human daughter. It is still the weekend, Sunday, so, after yesterday's draining events, she decides she wants to comfort Bella with nice human food and motherly bonding, without falling apart herself._ Oh that girl..._

"Sorry, Mom!" Emmett said quickly, narrowly avoiding a berating from Esme. He pounds on his brother's door again, but just at a human strength (which meant barely a fraction of his might) so as to not break the door. He doesn't want to buy or fix another house problem. "Open up, you—"

"Emmett McCarty Cullen!" Esme is at it again. "Finish that sentence and you'll be drinking soap water for the next week!"

His face pinches. Soap water is disgusting, even for a vampire. Believe him, he's done it already, and repetition doesn't make it better at all.

He sighs and raps on the door again, lighter this time. "C'mon, man, open up." He does this for over a total of ten minutes before he hears a breeze behind him. He turns around and finds Esme, a small smile teasing her lips. "Hey," he says, raising his hands up in surrender, "I didn't cuss or anything!"

"I know, dear," she says. "And I also know that Jasper and Alice are out hunting."

His eyes widens comically. "Son of a—"

"EMMETT!"

#

"I don't want deer or elk anymore," Alice complains lightly. "I've had one for each."

"Then you should feel full by now," Jasper says, pulling his mate into his embrace, his soft topaz eyes trained on her honey orbs, an obvious sign that she is not yet full. "Fine."

They then hold rigid poses, concentrating on their senses to find a prey, until Alice catches a scent of a carnivore that she breaks away from Jasper to run full speed toward it. By the time Jasper catches up to her, her steel teeth are sunken into a mountain lion's neck, drinking its blood contently.

"Edward's not going to take lightly this matter of stealing his food," Jasper drawls jokingly as he leans against a tree.

Alice pulls her head back, her lips dripping with blood, but none of it spilled onto her outfit. "He'll live." She dips her head back onto the lion's ruined flesh but she pauses just before her teeth can make a connection. Shock jolts within her as she stilled, and Jasper knows all too well what is happening: Alice is having a premonition.

He immediately races to her side, pulsing waves of calm aura from his body to his surroundings, sending most of them to his mate. When she finally blinks, he soothes her back and asks, "What did you see?"

The lion is nothing but forgotten, dropped onto the damp ground at their feet as they slowly straightened their postures.

Her look is fixated on a tree, but her mind is universes away.

He shakes her slightly by the shoulders as he faces her, "Tell me, Alice. What was it you saw?"

She breaks her reverie and stares into his eyes before whimpering out, "Bella."

And that was all he needs before they sprint back to their home.

#

After her shower, she slips back into her bedroom, where she lies back on the bed with him. His arm is wrapped around her protectively as she snuggles closer to him. It's the third time he sees her as extremely brittle. The first time was in the ballet studio, where she was lying on the ground looking so crumpled and broken. The second time was during her recovery in the hospital, where she was wrapped in casts, bandages, gauze...

God, how he hated seeing her in both situations, where she looked so small and so vulnerable.

And now history repeats itself as he looks down at her. She is pulling herself closer to him that makes her seem more like a frightened child than a teenage girl.

He bends a little to leave a kiss on her head. "Penny for your thoughts?" He says, and it seems to pull her out of her world.

"Nothing," she mumbles quickly.

"You're a really bad liar, Bella."

She sighs. "I'm just thinking..." Her voice falters a little. He rubs her shoulder a little, encouraging her to go on. "I'm just thinking how much time I have left..."

He sucks in a breath. "What?" He says, utterly appalled.

And the mere thought of her, pale, still and cold... It attacks his mind mercilessly. His Bella? Gone from this world? He cannot _bear_ to think about it again, after going through hell last spring.

The thought of never seeing those beautiful chocolate brown eyes again...

"I don't know," she continues in a detached voice. "It just scares me that there's something wrong with my brain, and no one knows how to fix it."

He instantly relapses from his thoughts. "Bella, listen to me," he says as he pulls her up so they are at eye-level, faces just inches apart. "You are not even broken to begin with."

"Edward—"

He cuts her off when he crashes his lips onto hers, not wanting to hear the rest of her paragraph, knowing it would break his unbeating heart. She is frozen for a moment before she relaxes and gives in to the not-so-chaste kiss. He let her hands travel up his neck and get tangled in his hair, pulling him closer to her. He tries so hard to keep his self-control, but it is so easy to get lost in her floral scent of freesias and strawberries that he doesn't realize his arms are wound around her torso. The second he realizes this, he break contact immediately, but still holds her close.

"I'm sorry," she pants, a scarlet blush rushing to her face.

"It's okay," he says, smiling a little. "You overestimate my self-control."

"Yeah well, what _aren't_ you good at?"

He chuckles at her remark but it quickly dies down when his phone beeps.

**From Alice:**_ Home right now. Family meeting w/Bella._

He is skeptical. This most likely stemmed from a vision she had seen.

"Who is it?" she asks.

"Alice. She wants us home for a family meeting."

"Let's go then."

#

Carlisle just doesn't understands it.

He is in the hospital, in his office, delving deep into books, colleagues' opinions, his own mind, trying to figure out how to save his son's mate.

_I've just never seen anything like this before,_ he thinks.

He stares at the scans again, even though it's considered redundant now, since he has the scans memorized because of his perfect photographic memory thanks to his advanced vampiric mind.

Before he can think or pace any further, his cellphone, which is on his desk, vibrates. He checks it.

**From Alice:**_ Home right now. Family meeting w/Bella._

It doesn't take long before his white coat is off, his bag is at hand and he is out of the door in just a snap of a finger.

#

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you here today."

"Alice, don't pull that crap and just tell us."

"Emmett, language."

"But Esme—"

_Whack!_

"Ow! What was that for, babe?"

"Don't argue with me or Esme."

"Can we all just listen to what Alice has to say?"

"You're one to talk. You already know what she's going to say."

"Actually no, Emmett. She's blocking me right now."

"And I will keep blocking you until I can actually get a word out!"

"All right, everyone be quiet. Let Alice talk."

"Right... well..."

"Spit it out."

"Emmett!"

"Sorry!"

"IsawVictoria!"

"_What?!_"

"And... she's headed to the Volturi... to tell them about Bella."

"... _oh my god._"

#

Edward follows Bella, as the others as well, who walks out of the house, visibly unsure of how to react. She is perched at the edge of the porch that she looks like a wounded bird, ready to take flight despite the broken wing.

_She's numb,_ Jasper informs Edward.

The youngest Cullen nods, letting Jasper know he received his message. But then he stops.

_What the hell are you doing, dumbass?_

_Edward, what's going on?_

_Son, is there something wrong?_

He ignores the thoughts of his family because he is now picking up thoughts of people _outside_ of his family, and they belong to people he thought he would never have to meet ever.

_... can't believe... looks exactly... Isa..._

_... no... impossible... dead... human..._

And when he thinks it's bad, it just gets worse.

_I do not care anymore for Aro's rules. Clearly, she already knows the existence of our kind. I simply don't care. I _need_ to meet her. I'm sorry, sister._

He quickly springs into action as he turns into a blur of white, racing to Bella in an attempt to hide her from their _visitors._ He thinks for a second, _ why didn't Alice see _this_ but sees Victoria's decision?_

But he is too late.

Across the yard, the Cullens spot a male child, but by his dark cloak, pale glittering skin and ruby red eyes, he is anything but.

The family immediately stands in front of Bella, blocking her from his view to hide her. Even Rosalie helps. But unfortunately, Bella doesn't get the message and pushes her way past the coven of vampires.

"No, Bella!" Most of them chorus, but she doesn't listen. She just walks her way to the child.

Edward is having none of it. "Bella, come back," he says as he tugs on her hand, but to no avail. He contemplates carrying her but then she suddenly stops. She is approximately fifteen feet from the child.

And then, she says something no one expected her to say.

"Alec?" She asks before she cries on in pain and collapses on the ground, her nose seeping of blood.

* * *

**A/N: Yay, we get the reunion! But oh crap, _now_ what happened to Bella? If you're wondering why it took me this long to write this, it's because I wanted to build anticipation... **

**Was it good? Did it live up to your expectations? I hope so...**

**I'm sorry for all mistakes, spelling and grammar, made.**

**I wanted to put more Emmett humor, but there just wasn't room for it because the angst blew up pretty fast.**

**If you liked this, please review, or add this to your favorites, or follow it! Any kind of love is still love! :)**

**CHEERS!**


	6. 5 — Denial and Acceptance

**CHAPTER FIVE - DENIAL AND ACCEPTANCE**

**JANE AND ALEC**

* * *

They are in the airport, where they are patiently seated in the gate for their flight to Portland. It is a good thing for Alec that he had passports made for him and Jane a year ago. It's still an hour away until they board their plane.

"Was it necessary to have changed out of our uniform?" Alec asks, gesturing at the bright red tee-shirt and white checkered cargo shorts that Jane brought from him to wear.

Jane, who is dressed in a casual black dress, faces him and says, "Do you really wish to attract the attention of the humans?"

He huffs. "Then why assign me with clothing that is clearly not of my preference?"

Jane's lips quirks. "Oh my poor deluded brother. This is _clearly_ of your preference. Your outlook of lately has been compromised by cheery and excited emotions that even someone as thick-headed as Felix can notice."

"And the eyes?" He points to his grayish irises that have a hint of red swirling subtly in it.

Jane's eyes, which are purple due to blue contacts on blood red eyes, flicker from amusement to incredulousness. "I dare you to so much as look at a human with your real eye color."

"I did not mean to imply it like that, sister. All I meant was why is it necessary? They will melt barely halfway through our journey."

She grabs her carry-on bag and brings out a pouch that is considered to be quite large. "And that's precisely the reason why I increased our stock." She unzips the pouch and reveals probably more than twenty pairs of contact lenses.

_"Ladies and gentlemen, Flight AA135 is now boarding. Business class and first class will board first. Elderly passengers and passengers with children will board first."_ **(The plane, AA135, above is purely fictional.)**

A young woman, probably in her twenties, approaches the two of them with a warm smile on her face. "Alec and Jane Harrison, right?" She asks, she has an American accent but has a slight Italian mixed in it.

Alec nods and hands their boarding passes for two seats in the first class to her. She glances at the boarding passes for a second before nodding and guiding them to the aircraft.

This is it. In just hours, they will see the girl.

#

Touchdown. Finally, the plane lands.

About thirty minutes before, they swiftly popped in another pair of contact lenses into their eyes. When the plane slows to a stop and the seatbelt sign turns off, a steward approaches the twins' seats and takes down their hand-carry baggage.

"Thank you," Alec says, knowing Jane would never.

"No problem, sir," the steward replies.

Upon departing the aircraft, Alec has had a strong feeling of just blurring away. But then he had seen how tight human governance is. Had he and his twin disappeared, they'd go straight to the missing person list, which would instantly catch the attention of the humans globally, and it wouldn't be too long before it would catch the attention of the Volturi.

That makes him pause mentally.

Does he want to go back? Back to his so-called _family_?

After he sees the girl, he knows that won't be likely.

They go through the long and torturous process of immigration. Apparently, humans need proof that you exited a country by looking at a stamp, only to receive another one upon entering a new domain.

_Almost an hour of torture for a single stamp?_ He thinks.

When it is their turn for the immigration officer to check their documents, Alec uses this technique of appearing more innocent and angelic (a skill he and Jane had mastered) to garner the empathy of the woman to speed it up. It works and soon, there isn't any security procedures left to go through. They exit the Fairchild Airport of Portland and Jane suggests coughing out the food they had to eat in the plane and feed on blood.

Alec agrees.

And off they went.

#

After the feed on two humans each, they both change out of their disguises and put on a different set of clothes.

"Alec?" Jane says, coming out as a whisper, as she holds out the attire he has handed to her.

"Yes?" He says, already in his own outfit.

"Where..." She is at a loss for words. "Where did you find these? I thought they had perished, along with our former home..."

"They did indeed. These are merely replicas I had made."

"And how long exactly have you kept these _replicas_?"

"Over nine hundred years."

Jane's now red eyes widens in shock. "What? And how were you able to maintain these clothing? They are in perfect condition!"

Alec smiles a little, but it does not touch his eyes. "You'd be surprised at what I can protect, sister."

Jane doesn't say a word after that, and just wordlessly put them on. As soon as she is done, they both look at each other and they are both stunned. They are both dressed in their clothes which they were supposed to wear on their parents' birthday, which just coincidentally happens to fall on the same day.

But then the tragedy ensued, and the burning happened.

They both put on their cloaks and decide to rely on their speed than unreliable human transportation.

_She said to find a house in the woods edging the town of Forks,_ he thinks to himself.

#

And they do find the girl and, to their utmost surprise, a large coven of vampires, comprised of seven members.

But Alec's and Jane's eyes are intent on the human girl who seems to be an exact replica of their sister. Even though their memory of their sister is flawed, they _know_ what she looks like. In order not to forget her, Alec practically covered the entire wall of their shared chamber with hand-drawn pictures of his sister, all in different scenarios.

_I can't believe this human looks exactly like Isa_, Alec thinks.

_No, this is impossible. Isa is dead. This girl is nothing but a pathetic human, _Jane thinks.

After a few agonizing seconds, Alec cannot hide anymore and he _needs_ to meet this human up close.

_I do not care for Aro's rules anymore_, he thinks, aggravated. _Clearly, she already knows the existence of our kind. I simply don't care anymore. I need to meet her._ He glances at his twin pain-strikingly. _I'm sorry, sister._

He stands from where he crouches and darts out of the canopy of the trees and lands on the open yard, looking straight at the human, who is now moving toward him with a blank expression on her face, but her eyes are gleaming with curiosity. He hears the coven yell at her, but he does not comprehend the noise. All noises are drowned out, and he can only concentrate on the girl.

The girl... The girl who is approaching him has wavy mahogany hair and muddy brown eyes that are enough to convince him it is his long-thought deceased sibling-and-guardian. He is so intoxicated with the fact that his sister, his Isa, has been resurrected that he almost uses his channeled speed to run to her and embrace her.

But then he also notices her clothes.

He distinctly remembers his weak and blurry human eyes used to seeing his eldest sister adorned in middle-class clothing that were actually handed down to her from their mother; and that meant tattered dresses, worn out shoes, and a dark cloak that came from their father.

But_ this_ Isa... no, she isn't in the attire that is of the like, not nearly the same.

She is dressed in a loose top of what humans normally term it as a hoodie, a pair of dark faded jeans and a pair of high-top sneakers.

Again, the fact that this is highly likely not his sister strikes him almost as strongly as how Felix would squarely give him a blow to the chest during their training sessions. The mere thought that this human is just fate disrupting with his mind and sanity almost brings him to tears. Had he been human, the inner child within him would come out and leave him in a pool of his own saline.

The girl halts without warning, curious doe brown eyes are intent on him. When she moves her mouth, he anticipates an incoming scream, but it doesn't come. Instead she says in a voice that strongly yet dreadfully reminds him of the night of the burning, "Alec?"

#

Jane is beyond astonished that it throws her off a cliff and into a sea of disbelief.

She can't deny that the girl is practically the doppelganger of her long dead sister, seeing the living, existing proof right there in front of her eyes.

But no, she can't accept it. It took her centuries to come to terms with Isa's death. She has done her grieving and she has moved on. And now this world retaliates and decides to give them back their dead sister only after a millennium later; _after_ they finally accepted that she's gone.

No.

She can't handle that. She can't handle that level of grief again.

No.

That is _not_ her sister.

#

The figmental saline (or in this case, venom) pricks the back of Alec's eyes. Before he can even move an inch or even blink his eyes, her body jerks once and she yelps like she is in pain. He stands there shell-shocked as he can see a dark red liquid trail down from her nose and he immediately recognizes it as blood. It is the first time he truly registers her scent. It is the sweetest and most alluring scent he has ever smelled. But after a thousand years of controlling his restraint, he manages to curb his thirst. And then, her eyes roll back and her legs give out.

He wants to rush in and help but then a bronze-haired vampire immediately rushes to Alec, pouncing on him and tackling him down on the ground. He keeps him there pinned on the grass by holding on to his throat.

"You are _not_ going to kill her!" He all but snarls at Alec. There is a layer of satisfaction gleaming in his eyes when Alec flinches. _Golden eyes_, he muses, _so they must feed from animals instead of humans._ The vampire turns his head slightly and seethes at the shortest vampire. "I thought you said Victoria is _about_ to go. I didn't know you could see the _damn past_, Alice!"

_See?_ Alec thinks curiously. _Does this Alice have some form of ability to see through timelines? Like the past?_

He wants to kick the vampire, who is still on top of him, but then the vampire has lost his look of wild fury as his face contorts into pain. He groans and pushes himself off of the boy, clutching at his head like it is about to fall.

"Get your hands off my brother," someone with a high-pitched voice says. He suddenly feels like rolling his eyes. Without breaking eye contact, his twin, Jane, helps him up to his feet. "Are you all right?"

"Don't coddle me, Jane. I'm not a child."

She breaks her glare on the teenage Cullen and gives her brother a stern look that clearly meant _we're-both-children-get-over-it_. The look scares him that he is reminded of his eldest sister, who would occasionally wear the exact same expression.

His eldest sister.

That's right. He came all the way from Volterra to Forks to _see_ this... this strange reoccurrence, this eerie phenomenon, this beautiful doppelganger of his sister.

Wait.

He is then reminded of moments ago when she bled right in front of him and promptly fell to the ground, rendered unconscious. His eyes immediately dart to where he saw the girl, Isabella — Dear Lord, they even have the same given name — had fallen. But she's gone, and the vampire who had tackled him is now on his feet, glaring at the both of them. But even Alec himself could see the fear and confusion oozing out of the crevice.

Alec quickly deduces that the family probably picked her up and whisked her away to their glass house because he notices almost immediately their sudden disappearance.

Instantly, he feels like it was wrong to have himself just burst from the trees and wave his presence into their stunned faces.

"You think?" The teenage boy says, his tone suggesting sarcasm.

Alec's eyes widen.

_Not another mind reader..._

#

Both the twins have the strong desire to use their abilities of causing pain and cutting off senses, but they tame it. Alec chooses not to because he can see that this coven is attached to the human girl, and knows that if they show any hostile actions, they would never see the human again. Jane just follows her brother's lead, who is still in the process of denial.

"Jane, Alec," someone says, and the twins are quick to identify that it's Aro's old friend, Carlisle.

"Carlisle," Jane greets in a monotone.

"Is she all right?" Alec demands immediately.

"I'm sorry, who?" Carlisle asks pretentiously.

"Don't play coy with me, Carlisle. I have seen the human! Is she fine?"

"Y-Yes. She's fine. She's in the house right now, resting."

"Good."

"What brings you here?" Carlisle asks, but his voice is nervous, changing the subject entirely.

"We come in peace," Alec answers, deciding to be the spokesperson. "I'm sure this mind reader can tell you that we did not come to harm the human."

The blond leader glances at the copper-haired member and the latter nods uneasily.

"Then what the hell are you doin' here?" A deeper bass booms, which is quickly followed by a higher-pitched, "ow!"

"Watch your tone and language, young man!" A motherly voice reprimands.

In a second, the coven comes out of the house and stands by the two men. Alec observes that the smallest one, the one named Alice, is lacking. She is probably inside tending to the human.

"My son," Carlisle says, looking pointedly at the large vampire, "has a point. What is your business here?"

_Now_ what can he say? That he and his twin travelled from Volterra to Washington just so they could see this human girl?

"Why would you want to see Bella?" The vampire who pinned Alec down asks. "Unless you have intentions of... executing her."

At first, the words _damn mind reader_ are coloring his mind, but now, having heard the words _execute her_ startles him so much that he is temporarily speechless.

Jane decides to step in. "Again, we come in peace. We have no intentions whatsoever of harming the human or your family. We did not travel thousands of kilometers on Volturi business. We simply came here to fulfill our own curiosity."

"Curiosity?" Carlisle repeats questioningly.

Jane is quick to think of an excuse without having to expose her mind to the mind reader. "It's not every day we come across a large coven such as yours to have a human as their pet."

"Bella is _not _a pet," the bronze-haired vampire growls. "She is a part of our family."

_Family_, Alec thinks. _Not coven._

Alec then finds his voice. "Please. We have no plans at all of hurting the girl. We simply want to meet her.

_He wants to meet her. I only came to accompany him_, she adds mentally, immediately catching the attention of the mind reader, who says nothing.

The family looks at the bronze-haired vampire and another male who looks to be in the same age, but is taller and has blond hair. It's as if they're looking for a confirmation.

The mind reader says begrudgingly, "they're telling the truth."

Then the blond one says, "Edward's right. They aren't lying."

They all seem to hesitate until the motherly figure of the _family_ speaks up, "Why don't you two come in then to our home?"

"Esme," a blonde female hisses, and she immediately shuts up when the woman, Esme, gives her a look that clearly says _don't speak._

"That would be lovely," Jane says sweetly, but even Alec is creeped out.

Alec mentally decides he will explain within the premises.

#

"_What?!_" Most of the Cullen members burst out.

Alec thinks just telling them point-blank that he thinks the human is their sister, at least the reincarnation of their sister, is not the best idea.

A piercing silence stretches, until Emmett, the big vampire, breaks the ice.

"I didn't know the Volturi are into jokes," he says.

"I'm afraid they're not joking, Emmett," Carlisle says before returning his attention to the twins. "How can you think so, Alec? You were born around eight hundred A.D. Bella is—"

"This is not a petty matter of birth dates, Carlisle," Alec interjects.

The bronze-haired one, Edward, continues Alec's line of thought. "You think she is the reincarnation of your sister."

Alec nods. "Yes, in a way."

"In a way?" Carlisle echoes, perplexed.

"Harbor no illusions," Alec says cautiously, "for I speak no deception." He pauses, waiting for everyone's response. When they all nod, he continues, "We think this human, Bella," he grimaces a little. He prefers _Isa_, "is our sister's second life."

The Cullen family is silent, trying to digest the newly-given information, the tale being more than just a little far-fetched.

"How are you even sure Bella is your sister?" Edward asks.

"Mostly by her physical appearance. They both have the exact same attributes that had she been wearing a more timely fashion, no one would be able to tell the difference."

"Maybe your memory of your sister is flawed..."

"No! I know her! I remember my sister perfectly, and I am telling you that that girl is her!"

"How did you even find out about her?" It is Emmett's turn to ask. "I doubt there's like a... secret database in the Volturi castle with every human's information on it..." He pauses. "Damn, that's creepy."

Alec's eyebrows pull together, puzzled. "No. There is no database. Regarding as to _how_ we found her, I think I'd like to withhold that information for a while."

"Okay, how about this? Why do _you_ think she's your sister?" The blond male, Jasper, asks.

Alec is silent. He does not know how to answer. Mostly it's a gut feeling, but deep down, he _knows_ it's her. Why else would _she _tell him?

Before he can formulate an articulate and coherent sentence, the shortest vampire, Alice, comes blurring down the stairs and barges into the figmental walls of privacy established in the living room.

"W-What is it, Alice, dear?" Esme asks, concerned.

"It's Victoria," Alice says, which is close to a moan, as she plops down in between Jasper and Esme.

"What is that bit— I mean bimbo, planning to do this time?" Emmett says, nervously glancing at the caramel-haired woman, who is lightly giving him a look that demands discipline.

"I don't know," Alice says. "That's the problem, Em. She's planning a thousand things at the same time, and deciding to do them all, and then changing it the next hour or so."

"She's playing with your visions," Edward states as realization dawns on him, as the rest of his family... except for Alec and Jane, who both exchanges glances, wondering what they mean by _visions_. They both guess that Edward is not the only one gifted in the family.

"Who is this... Victoria?" Jane asks formally.

"She is one of our kind," Carlisle clarifies. "She is... intent on inflicting vengeance upon our family."

"Why?" Jane asks, her head tilting a little to the side.

"Her mate was a tracker and desired Bella to be his next prey."

Jane looks thoughtful as she muses it over. "By any chance, is this mate of _Victoria_ named James?"

They all blink in astonishment. "How did you know?" Carlisle asks, completely losing the professional demeanor.

"Oh typical," she says. "Those two have caused quite a handful of problems for the Volturi, especially the tracker, with his obsession with _games _and whatnot. But I cannot simply ignore this, but you said _was_. Is he dead?"

"Hell yeah that bastard is! _OW!_ I mean... yes. He's dead." Emmett rubs at the spot his mate, the blond female named Rosalie, hit him.

"If I were to guess," Alec begins, "Victoria is angered by the loss of her mate and wants to eliminate whoever it is who killed him."

"Yeah."

_Victoria finally summoned up the courage to seek revenge? _Alec thinks. _How pathetic._

"What are you talking about?" Edward asks, directing it to Alec.

_I have to learn how to control my thoughts._ He shakes it off and answers, "Victoria had an elder sister called Anne. They were both sold into slavery and endured the hardships together. On a night of errand, Anne never came back and was presumed dead when in actuality, she was changed by a vampire called Hilda."

Jane continues, "It took Anne five years to control her bloodlust until she finally visited Victoria, who she ultimately changes to escape her miserable life. They both have satisfactory lives with Hilda, who then added three more members, one of them significantly known as Heidi. Their coven is then ultimately destroyed by the Volturi, due to the humans that began to speculate. Only two survived: one of them is Heidi, who is recruited to be one of the guards, and the other one is..."

"Victoria," Edward finishes.

"Yes."

"Now if _I_ were to guess, Anne was killed alongside the other four."

"Yes, Edward. It's not at all hard to deduce that conclusion."

"I like her," Emmett comments, "She's got spunk."

Normally, Jane would brush off a comment directed to her, be it positive or negative. But this time, Alec seems surprised to see his twin smiling quite gleefully, looking like her true biological age than her chronological one.

Out of nowhere, Alice suddenly whispers, "Oh shit..."

Esme gasps. "Alice! Watch your language!"

Emmett guffaws. "Finally, someone else gets it... and it's little Alice. _OW!_"

"You're also getting earful from me if you don't lose that attitude," Esme scolds.

Alice ignores the banter between her eldest brother and mother as she stands up to grab the remote for the television set. With a button, the television flickers to life, and the CNN channel is on, where a group of pictures of people from Seattle are displayed on the screen with the caption _MISSING PEOPLE _at the bottom.

_"If you have found any of these people, please contact local authorities."_

"Okay..." Emmett begins. "We're watching the local news because...?"

It's Alice's turn to thump the back of his head for being ignorant. "Don't you get it?"

"Not really."

"All these people," Alec says, "they have all gone missing in a mere span of a month. Judging by their physical appearances, I'd say their ages are between fifteen to forty, at the latest." He glances at his sister, who silently agrees with his musings. "It's the beginning of an army. A _newborn_ army."

Alice nods. "Yeah. And I think Victoria is conducting this."

"Which would explain why she's trying to find your blind spots," Carlisle says.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Emmett protests, waving his hands in the air. "_How_ are we even sure it's a newborn army? I mean, humans go missing all the time!"

"Emmett has a point," Jasper says. "We're all just drawing to conclusions here."

"Major Whitlock, you know more than anyone in this room that these are clear signs of an army brewing," Alec says casually, but a part of himself agrees with the large vampire, hating guesswork himself.

"How did you—"

"We know of your involvement with the wars in the South in the nineteenth century which were all organized by your creator." Jasper shifts uncomfortably. "Sensing your distress, I'm just... going to shut up now." Alec felt quite proud, able to weave a modern sentence.

"It's most likely an army," Jane says. "And by the location she chose to build it, she has chosen numbers to annihilate _your_ coven, seeing as you are the only coven who resides the closest."

Before she can allow Emmett to say something, Alec quickly says, "We will assist you, should there by an army."

"We will?" Jane whispers.

Alec's head snaps to her and whispers in a dangerously low tone. "We _will_."

"Why?" Rosalie says, "Because you think Bella is your sister?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

"Not I," Jane says, sneering a little at her brother. "I will help you, only because my relationship with my brother is going to lead to estranged if I chose not to. And as a bonus, Aro would be pleased knowing we had stopped an impending army when we return."

_If we return,_ Alec corrects. He knows Edward heard him, but the bronze-haired vampire chooses not to speak and appear to remain oblivious about it.

"Does Aro know you left?" Carlisle asks.

"No," Alec answers. "We left in secret."

"So I'm assuming he doesn't know about your sister?"

"He knows our sister," Alec says, tensed. "He was there when we burned at the stake." He shrugs, trying to shake off the ill thoughts. "But what he doesn't know is that she is possibly resurrected."

"When when you go back, Aro would be able to read your thoughts. And then they'd find out about Bella!" Edward says.

Alec shrugs. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

_If we come to it,_ he corrects. And again, Edward chooses to remain oblivious.


	7. 6 — Chases

**CHAPTER SIX - CHASES**

**BELLA**

* * *

_"Let us play chases!" Little ten-year-old Jane said excitedly, tugging at her siblings' hands._

_"That is a brilliant idea, Jane!" Her twin brother, Alec, said with a bright smile on his face._

_"I humbly apologize, little ones," their eldest sister, Isa, fifteen years of age, said apologetically, withdrawing her hand. "But Father will be back soon with his hunt. I have to ready the_—_"_

_"Isa!" Jane interrupted, her spirits not dampened at all by the refusal. "Please! Let us play for a short length of time! Father would not mind if you allow yourself to become a child again."_

_"I am a child no longer."_

_"You still are," Alec said._

_"They are right, you know," someone said behind them. They all turned and found their blue-eyed, crow black haired and lean-built neighbor, Gregory, leaning up against a tree. An easy smile was on the seventeen-year-old's face, the illustration of ease. _**(In my head, Gregory's physical appearance is a lot like a Vampire Diaries season one Damon Salvatore, but with an English accent. A bit of Gregory's attitude is derived from Damon when he was still human.)**

_"Where in the devil's name did you come from?" Isa said._

_"Tut tut, Isabella. It is not polite for a woman to curse."_

_"I... I am a child! Not a woman!"_

_"Ah!" He said, pointing a finger at her. "I had thought you said you are no longer a child."_

_"I... I..." She had lost her ground._

_"Gregory!" Jane said, running up to Isa's best friend. "What brings you here?"_

_"Well, Janie, dear. There I was, minding my own business when I heard someone suggest a game of chases." He smirked. He faced the young child and bowed in a gentlemanly fashion. "And I would be honored to join this activity, Lady Jane and Sir Alec."_

_"Wonderful!" Alec said. "Isa, you have to join us! Father would not reprimand you."_

_"Indeed," Gregory said, draping an arm over Jane's shoulder in a brotherly fashion. "Your father has spoken no ill will of you. And I should add that you are the most responsible young lady in this whole village. But sometimes individuals, even someone as industrious as you, need their time to relax."_

_Isa huffed a breath of contempt, reluctant to leave her duties. "Fine." She strode forward and lightly jabs at Gregory's shoulder, a wide grin on her face. "Then Gregory is the chaser!"_

* * *

Pain is what I wake up to.

A stabbing pain in the center of my head jabs at my brain like a woodpecker pecking a tree. I groan in pain through my teeth as I grind them shut. I squeeze my eyelids shut as I try to push the pain away, but it just doesn't go away.

At least I don't feel nauseated... I think.

My hand flies to my nose and I swipe at it. I dare myself to look at my fingers. I half-expected to see a bright red dripping from my fingertips, but I find none. I breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

My heavy eyes lazily trail to my window and I immediately see the sun rays streaming through my curtains. Another nice day?

Normally, I would have loved the rare appearance of the sun, which means a warm day is in stall for Forks.

But I don't want the warm invitation of the nice heat the sun is radiating nicely today. I need Edward today. I need Alice, and even Jasper. I need all three of them because I don't feel... right (especially after that dream. I now suddenly have the strangest urge to run around).

But there's more to it than just the dream... yes, there's more. I try to recall the events that took place yesterday. All I can remember is the horrible morning that included the toilet in front of me and Edward patting my back; the intimate talk we had on my bed; the run to his house; the news about Victoria...

I can't remember what happened next.

_I must have fainted again._

I just want company on this day. I just feel like there's something wrong. My phone, which is on my nightstand, buzzes and I stretch my arm to check who it is.

**From Edward:** _Good morning, love. Stay safe. I love you._

A smile is creeping onto my face as I read his text. I think most girls would know this feeling... Just the little things he does to make your day better.

I decide to send him a text back.

**To Edward:** _Good morning to you too. I'll try my best to stay safe. Hunt down mountain lions for me. Love you too._

The strange urge of being active still lingering within me, I jump out of bed, trying to be a picture of a teenage girl you normally see in movies, but no, I fail because my legs get entangled with the blanket and I crash on the floor, right onto my injured arm. I cry out a word that would instantly guarantee soap water into my mouth by Esme herself. I glance at the bandage over it and breathe a little better when there is no immediate red pooling.

_At least I didn't pop the stitches, I think..._

I get up from my very ungraceful fall and just sluggishly let my feet lead me to my bathroom. I take a quick shower to scrub off the dirt I know is not there but I feel clinging onto me (I am careful as I wash around my gauze). I brush my teeth hastily, wash my face and wrap myself in a towel as I head back to my sanctuary. I towel dry my hair before putting on my chosen clothes: a grey tank top, a purple checkered polo shirt (one that has sleeves long enough to hide the gauze on my arm), blue jeans and my trusty black Converse (I just love them too much).

I remember Carlisle's words to me in the hospital, when he told me he thought I have a brain tumor. He told me I was underweight. I want to eat breakfast. A strawberry pop tart maybe... but I hold myself back.

I don't want to hack that out when I'm in school, especially if a period is going on.

My phone buzzes from my pocket. I fish it out to see who it is.

**From Jasper: **_Alice saw. You have to eat. Or I'll tell Edward._

My eyes slowly widen. I'm more shocked at the fact that the text is from Jasper _and_ that he actually threatened me, rather than the fact that Alice saw my decision.

Before I am given a chance to reply, I receive another text.

**From Edward: **_HAAAAAA! eddies worried sick. u gotta take care of urself while were gone sis. ps if u think this is eddy boy, u r wrong... and sick, but i think u know._

From shock, it quickly shifts to amusement. Leave it to Emmett to take Edward's phone and text that. Even without them beside me, they're still here, worrying.

But _why_ are they worried?

They shouldn't be... I don't have a brain tumor! I mean, there's _something_. But still, it's not a brain tumor.

I grab my backpack and a granola bar on my way out of the house. It's six fifty a.m. It's still too early to go to school, so I decide to go somewhere else, a destination I already had in mind. But I have to have my coffee before I go anywhere...

#

And I did my coffee, from the diner. And it was one of the most horrible mistakes I had done.

The second I park my truck in the lot, I had to run to the grass before I allow my body to heave nothing but the granola bar, the coffee and acidic bile. I hurl until my throat is practically burning, my eyes are watering and my nose is clogged. I hold my position for a while, my hands on my stomach. When I am sure my body has calmed, I stand, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

I contemplate going in or not, until I realize what is there to lose? Well, besides the thing I already wanted to lose...

I make sure I look more presentable by smoothing out my hair, rinsing my mouth with water which I thankfully brought, popped a mint in and I was ready.

I walk up to the Newton's Olympic Outfitters. It's not open yet, but I know Mrs. Newton is already in. She always likes to come in really early to make sure the store is proper for the public.

I tap on the glass and I instantly spot her as her highlighted blonde head turns and blue eyes meet mine. She strides to the door gracefully. Even though I am outside, I can still hear her three-inch heels clicking. She unlocks the double doors and opens one for me, just enough for me to slip in.

"Morning, boss," I greet.

"Good morning to you too, Bella," she greets back. She smiles, causing the edges of her eyes to crinkle. Many women worry about facial lines and wrinkles, but Karen Newton isn't one of them. I'm glad she isn't. She's more beautiful with her wrinkles; it adds more character to her personality. "What brings you here? If it's about losing your shifts over the weekend, I've overlooked it."

"Thanks, Mrs. Newton, but... well, I quit."

"What? Bella, I—"

"I'm sorry," I cut her off. I bite my lip. I didn't mean to be rude. "It's just that..." _I don't think I would be able to handle anymore work if I continue to faint, bleed and vomit everywhere._ "I want to focus on my studies. Because... I've been thinking about getting a scholarship... in Dartmouth." I'm glad my brain is still able to cooperate with me, because I just got that excuse from the top of my head.

She blinks twice, a poker face on. But not half a minute later until her face melts into understanding. "I understand. I wish my Mike is more like you, wanting to go to college. Instead, he just wants to take a full-time job here, which I don't object at all. But I just wish he had more ambition..."

I nod a little. "Yeah, he likes to talk about taking over the family business."

She smiles half-heartedly. "So, Ivy League huh? I bet your dad is proud of you."

"Oh he sure is," I say, remembering the last time he went on and on about how proud he is that a Swan is going to an Ivy League university.

"Have you thought about what you'll be taking?"

I bite my lip. "Not really. But I've been thinking about getting an English degree... or History." Europe's history to be more accurate. Particularly England...

"That's nice." She glances at the wall clock and gasps slightly. "Oh look at the time. You better go before you run late."

"Right... thanks, boss. For understanding."

"Of course, Bella. And I'm not your boss anymore, so just call me Karen."

I just shrug and smile before walking out the door, ready to go to school; for real this time.

#

School goes on by slowly without any of the Cullens around. Luckily though, lunch is just around the corner. I had to go visit the nurse first to have my wound cleaned and gauze changed. (Only she, in the school, knows I have this. I told her not to tell anybody to avoid unwanted questions.)

"Another one?" I hear Eric rasp to Ben as I walk over to our table and settle my tray filled with food on it.

"What's going on?" I ask as I sit beside Angela and Katie, ignoring Lauren's sneering face.

"Another person has gone missing in Seattle," Angela says, worry coating her ever-gentle brown eyes.

I am skeptical. "Err... I'm not being... inconsiderate. But-"

"I know what you're thinking, Bella," Katie says. "You think this isn't big news."

"Well... yeah." I mean, I did live with Charlie, who deals with missing people on almost a daily basis.

Katie hums. "But these disappearances are... just weird."

"And you mean weird... how?"

Ben leans in. His eyes dart back and forth as if someone is going to eavesdrop top government secrets. "These... missing people... It's like their all planned."

"Really?" I ask in a voice matching his as a way of mocking him. _Really?_ I think sarcastically. _Planned disappearances? Yeah, right._

"Yep," Eric says, popping the _p_ as he lightly slams a newspaper on the table, the parchment in my direction. The headline says _Two More People Missing, Work of Serial Killer?_ "About eighteen people are now officially reported missing, and ten others have been found dead. And worse part is, it's like whatever it is that's taking people... It's heading this way."

"Really?" I repeat, this time, my tone is obviously more afraid. I don't try to hide my fear; it shakes me to the core.

"You know what the creepy part is?" Mike starts. "That all those ten people aren't just dead." I am dreading what he is about to say next. "They're all drained of blood."

"Oh please," Lauren scoffs. "That's just a bunch of bull crap."

"Say all you want, Lauren," Angela says. "But this is _something_."

_It is_, I think. _A vampire..._

#

Biology was never exciting even when Edward was present. Today is no exception, even more awful actually.

Angela is my partner, and I am thankful for that. Mike was about to approach my table when Angela, my hero, sat on Edward's seat. I gave her a grateful smile, which she returned, while Mike slumped as he headed back to his own seat.

Why can't Mike just take a hint that I am not interested in him _and_ that I am in a relationship with someone already?

Mr. Banner is in front of the class, droning on and on about metabolism and whatnot. I don't really pay attention. I had already read and studied about this over the summer. In fact, I had studied most of my textbooks for the first semester. I wasn't kidding when I told Mrs. Newton I want a scholarship to Dartmouth. Edward and Alice kept insisting that they pay my tuition for me, but I just can't let them use their money for me, no matter how much money they have (and I don't like to think about the amount).

I guess I zoned out for quite a time because the next thing I know, Mr. Banner is assigning us with class work, which he is thankfully writing on the board. As soon as he is done, he tells us he expects silence and he walks out.

He should know better than telling a room full of hormonal teenagers to keep quiet. Naturally, no one heeds his words and the room is buzzing with chatter.

Angela and I diligently finish the work given, and I am done in just an estimate of ten minutes. I bring out my phone and send a text to Edward.

**To** **Edward:** _Bio's boring. I'll bet your time now isn't. Hunt any lions for me?_

It isn't long before my phone lightly vibrates.

**From Edward:** _Biology is not boring. It is a wonderful and mysterious subject. It's only the teacher who makes the subject boring. And no, mountain lions aren't showing themselves to me. But there are plenty of grizzlies though._

Before I can start texting a reply, I receive another message from him. From his phone, I mean.

**From Edward:** _can u tell ur man its impolite to steal other peoples food? its called BEING RUDE._

I want to reply. Honestly, I want to. There isn't a day Emmett doesn't make me smile or laugh. He is seriously the teddy bear of a big brother I really wanted from my parents. I still remember how I begged them for a big brother.

But then Mr. Banner comes back, demanding for the work, and I have to shove my phone back into my bag before he could notice.

#

By the time I am driving back to my house, I am exhausted. My mind feels like it has been scrambled, my legs feel like jelly, my arms feel very much so useless... And I don't think it's because of the last period volleyball challenge.

Is my body now shutting down?

If so, from _what_?

Is it from my apparently-not-brain-tumor?

Highly probable...

Just when I think I can just fling myself onto my bed and have a nice relaxing time with my made-up siblings, I see a familiar car parked in front of my yard. It is familiar, but I can't remember who drives it, let alone owns it. To satisfy my curiosity (and the person's visit), I park my truck in the driveway, sling my bag on my shoulder, slam the door shut and walk up to the car.

_Oh God, I just want to lie down..._

As soon as I am in front of the tinted window, it rolls down and I am bestowed with the _honor_ of seeing Charlie's best friend.

"Hello, Billy," I say, a little contemptuously.

"Hey, Bella," he greets back, and I know he is feigning enthusiasm. "How's Charlie?"

_Oh so he has the decency to wonder how Charlie is doing, but doesn't even bother to ask how _I'm_ doing? _"Oh he's fine."

He looks satisfied. "That's good." Then from satisfaction, it changes to concern. _Oh please. Concern?_ "Look, Bella, I didn't ask you how you are," _so now he can read minds?_ "because I know you aren't fine."

I scowl at him. "You don't know me well enough to say that. I sorry to disappoint you, Billy, but I_ am _fine."

"You're not," he presses.

"And pray tell me why I'm not." My patience and strength are both wearing thin.

His black eyes are suddenly filled fury that even though it shakes me within, I don't stir. I dislike him that much.

He says in a low voice, "'Cause you're hangin' out with the wrong crowd, Bella."

I feel tears prick behind my eyes. Not from hurt, but from anger.

I am not at all surprised by this claim. He told me pretty much the same thing last year. A vague warning that I should stay away from the Cullen family. And now he's doing the same thing now, only without Charlie and his son, Jacob, in our presence. (In fact, I'd prefer it if he had brought Jacob here. It would be so nice to avoid Billy's piercing eyes and have a light non-violating conversation with one of my childhood friends.)

"I think you and I have very different interpretations of _the wrong crowd_, Billy."

He sighs, not in a way that means he gives up (I wish he does) but in a way that means he is tired for the day. He reaches his hand out to the passenger seat. He hands out a damn brown paper bag to me. "It's Charlie's favorite."

I huff and grab it from him. It's Harry Clearwater's homemade fish fry. _Great excuse to come here. _"Yeah, sure. Thanks. Charlie will love this."

"Say hi to him for me."

I plaster on a fake smile which I know he knows is not genuine, and say through gritted teeth. "Sure."

I don't stay to watch him drive away. I march back to my house and straight to my room after stowing the fish fry in the freezer. I toss my bag onto a chair. I don't even bother changing out of my damp clothes. I just clamp down on my bed and let myself get lost in the world of unconsciousness.

* * *

_"You will never catch us, Gregory!" Jane squealed as we all separated in different directions. I chose to run right into the maze of trees._

_"I beg to differ, Janie!" I heard Gregory shout in reply._

_Was he close to me? I didn't care. I just kept running. I had never felt this exhilarated since I took over Mother's duties when she had passed away birthing Jane and Alec._

_Perhaps they were right. That Father wouldn't mind. I hope they were right. Even though I knew Father was wonderful, understanding and never _ever_ punished me nor my sibling in any way, I couldn't help but think he'd judge me as irresponsible._

_I was broken out of my silly reverie when I heard one of my siblings, Alec, yell, "Jane! I fear this game is a little one sided!" I immediately noticed his tone was teasing._

_"Oh?" I heard Jane now, her voice matching Alec's. "And why is that, brother dear?"_

_Out of nowhere, I hear the twins obnoxiously sing in perfect synchronization, "Gregory and Isa, sitting on a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"_

_Gregory had been known for being quite the charmer for the women in our village. What people were not aware of, however, was that he was courting me. It was no secret to my siblings nor my father, but I made sure it was to the rest of our community. That was mostly because he would be shunned if they found out. I was, after all, known as the sister of the witch twins (blast them for thinking such!). He was the one who had told me that he cared not for his reputation, but I talked him out of it. I did not want him to go through what I had gone through._

_He may have adored my siblings to great extents, but I would never wish to burden someone else of the village's ignorance._

_I would not go so far as saying that I was in love with Gregory, but the love I had for him was definitely deeper than intended for a friend._

_I decelerated to yell back to my siblings. "You little_—_"_

_And I was tackled down by a large person. Who else?_

_"Aha," Gregory said in a breathless voice, his forehead almost connecting to mine. "I have caught you!"_

_"It seems... you have," I panted._

_He looked at me for a while, his eyes were different. They held a different emotion in them... something I had been familiar with for quite a while. I only see it for a second before playfulness came back. He stood up and helped me on my own feet as well._

_"I have caught you," he repeated, brushing stray tendrils of my brown hair out of my face. "Now you are the chaser, Lady Isabella."_

_I rolled my eyes. "Oh Gregory. A life of nobility is never going to be within my grasp."_

_"And I beg to differ. You know what they say; a hard worker earns his pay."_

_I crossed my arms over my chest. "Really? And dare I ask who says that?"_

_A corner of his lips quirked upwards in a tight playful smirk. "I do. I just made it up at this very moment."_

_"Of course," I said, "because you are just _incredibly_ intelligent."_

_"I knew it. I knew I was not the only one who sees it."_

_With our faces just inches apart, I grinned at him and pecked upon his lips. "Now you are the chaser once more." And I took off, running away as he I heard him running behind me, matching my pattern of footsteps._

* * *

When I wake up, it's five in the afternoon, meaning I still have duties of cooking. I try to push myself up, but I almost physically can't.

You know that feeling when you just wake up and you still feel tired? That's exactly how I'm feeling, but a hundred times worse, as if I had just ran from a marathon...

Does this have something to do with my dream?

I just try to forget about it and literally roll out of my bed and onto the floor. Thankfully, I land on my uninjured arm. Unthankfully though, it still hurt. I consider crawling down the stairs, but even I, in the midst of delirium, think it's a bad idea. I groan as I attempt to pull myself up but I just feel incredibly weak.

I suddenly prefer pain over weakness. Pain is something I learned to live with, weakness, on the other hand, is something I can't cope with.

"Ugh," I moan. "Damn gravity. We're done."

I jerk, startled, when a pair of cool arms are placed beneath me and hoists me off the floor.

"Let me help then," my Adonis tells me, flashing me with my favorite crooked grin.

"You're back," I say, smiling. I think my eyelids are heavy.

"Of course. School is over, so is the hunt, and the sun's reign of terror."

"It's raining again?"

"Not yet. But it's cloudy. Now could you please tell me why you decided to have a close relationship with gravity and then breaking up with it shortly after?" He sounds amused.

I play along. "I decided that my love for you is stronger than my affection for gravity."

He grins again and drops a kiss on my eyelid. "I'm glad I won the battle for your heart. Where were you attempting to crawl to?"

"Kitchen. I have to cook dinner for Charlie."

"I think you're too tired to cook... _anything_. Do you want me to—"

I snort, effectively cutting him off. "Oh please. Are you actually suggesting that you be the one to cook?"

"Hmm... I was actually going to suggest delivery from a restaurant."

"Oh..."

"But I think I can handle cooking too." His smile never fades. "Unless you like burnt, undercooked or horrible food."

I rolled my eyes. I am about to decline both offers. But I just feel so exhausted that I can't not accept. And I think he knows I am tired because of the way I am just... slumped in his arms. Usually, I'd curl up more to myself than to Edward.

"Actually," I begin in an idle voice, "delivery doesn't sound so bad."

"It doesn't indeed." He settles me back on the bed, tucking me under the covers. "Was school that draining?"

"Mmm... Guess it was too much of a drag without you..."

I hear him say something else, but I don't catch it. I am once again thrown into medieval time.

* * *

_"You are not quick enough, Gregory!" I yelled in an octave higher than my normal tone as I push my legs one after the after._

_"I beg to differ, Isabella!" He yelled back. Every since he was a child, he loved that phrase._

_I laughed a real laugh before it slowly faded, and did my running._

_"Why have you stopped..." his voice trailed off._

_Right there on the ground ahead of us was a dark cloak strewn on the soil._

_It was my father's._

_It had a red stain on it._

_"Isabella... I am so sorry..."_

_I was numb._

_I whispered, "He's gone..."_

* * *

I wake up with hot tears leaking out of my eyes and cool arms wrapping tighter around me.

Charlie... Is he dead?

No, I know he's not dead.

But Father... my other dad, the one who takes care of me, Jane and Alec in my dream world...

Harry Harrison. _He's dead_. I know he isn't real, like my other mother, Katerina, and my made-up twin siblings...

Then why do I still have a hole in my heart as if someone had stabbed me?

"What's wrong, Bella?" Edward says in a tender tone.

I try to answer, but I still feel... drained. Instead of giving him a rational response, I just grunt, hoping it sounded negative.

"You're still tired?"

I hum in a positive tone.

"I see..." He hesitates. "I'd say go back to sleep, but I think it's the root of the cause as to why you woke up in the first place."

Hum.

"Do you _want_ to go back to sleep now?"

Grunt.

"Do you want me to talk to you for a while?"

Hum.

"Alright then. Well, during our hunt, Emmett had a nice time trying to hit me for stealing one of his grizzly bears. But they're not nearly close to a mountain lion. They taste a mix of herbivores and carnivores... though, they're more on the herbivore side. Bears, after all, prefer to eat plants and such rather than eat what they kill. Emmett mostly likes them for their fearlessness and brute strength, which is basically Emmett in a nut shell."

I manage a smile.

"Shortly after suggesting having food delivered here as dinner for you and Charlie, you were already asleep that when Charlie came up to check on, he tried waking you up but you wouldn't. He was scared you'd gone under a coma, and so was I. But then you mumbled something about running and he just let you sleep."

"That's nice of him," I say lazily.

"Yes it is. Mind telling me what aroused you awake?"

I contemplate lying to him, but I figure the longer I try to cover up what _really_ is going on with me, the harder it is to confide in him. I still feel weak, but my desire to tell at least one person about what I'm going through grows stronger.

And that one person has to be Edward.

So... in bits, I tell him. Everything.

Dating back to my earliest dreams of my made-up siblings, without having to tell him their names, to my recent ones, I tell him, no matter how much my body wants to shut down again. After that, an agonizing silence stretches before he speaks again.

"And... can you describe how these made-up siblings of yours look like?" He asks.

It's not the response I am expecting. But I just go with it. "Well... my younger sister in my dreams has brown hair. Not my brown, but a lighter brown. She kinda looks like me, but it's my younger brother who resembles me more that my sister. Anyway, she has blue eyes, the kind of blue that's... like the sky. She's small too, a lot smaller than her twin.

"Speaking of her twin, my brother has my shade of hair, ashy gray eyes... he's taller than her. I think he's as tall as Alice. Not tall at all, but given his age, I think that's tall... Wait, why are you asking?"

"Just... curious. That's all."

"Really?" I ask disbelievingly. "You don't think I'm going crazy? Or that I've been crazy my whole life?"

He chuckles, but it sounds tense, as he kisses my forehead. "Love, if that's what you think going crazy is like, then I think I'd end up in an asylum, padded wall, straight jacket and all." Then his tone is serious. "But no, I don't think you're going crazy, or that you've been crazy your whole life. Compared to me, a vampire, your situation is more of the norm."

I think I should feel relieved. Not only had I just removed this giant metaphorical boulder I have been carry on my shoulders since I can remember, but also, that giant metaphorical boulder was put down by a person who is one of the most significant people in my life.

I should be relieved.

But I'm not.

Instead, I am furious.

"_That's_ what you have to say?" I still feel weak, but I push through it. "After basically pouring my whole life story, you brush it off and just say _it's normal_ compared to you being a vampire?"

"Bella, that's not what I—"

"That's exactly what you meant, Edward! Just because I'm human, you think things that occur to fragile things like us are _of the norm_? You saw what's going on with my brain! You heard what Carlisle said! It's _abnormal_!"

"Carlisle is not sure what it is…"

"Precisely, Edward! Carlisle is not sure what it is! And you know why that is? _Because this never happened before!_ I-I… _I'm a freak, Edward!"_

He takes me by surprise when he firmly, yet gently, seizes me by the shoulders. "You are not a freak," he says, his voice has a tone of finality in it. "You have _never_ been and neither will you be."

He really want to believe him. But I can't.

"You're not a freak. You're _special_."

And I _really_ don't believe him now.

"Yeah, right." I shut my eyes as I try to let his words sink in. No matter how hard I try, I _can't_ believe him. _Special..._ I scoff mentally. _Special how?_

I hear the swoosh of a breeze. I open my eyes and Edward is not beside me anymore. There he is, in all his spectacular glory, by my window, shining in the brilliant moon beam. He is looking at me with an expectant look, like he is anticipating me to the something.

And then I understand.

"No way," I say.

"I want to show you," he persists, but he looks very hesitant. It's the same mask he puts on when danger is coming and then he starts treating me like an extremely brittle slab of glass as he figuratively wraps me in cotton. "I want to show you why you're not crazy nor a freak."

"Edward, it's a school night." I know my argument is weak, but I have a gut feeling I that should both go and _not_ go. Proof that I am going crazy.

"I'll bring you back in plenty of time." Then his voice loses its hesitance. "Please."

He outstretches his hand invitingly. I bite my lip as I think it over.

"Fine."

And I jump on his back as he bounds down from my window and into the thick canopy of the forest.

* * *

**Anon reviewer:_ Bella is like the patients on the TV show House. Always withholding information. By the way, did Bella indicate on the questionnaire that she was pregnant? What?_**

**Are you referring to when she held back the information about what she was thinking in the fMRI? If so, think of it this way: Bella doesn't even know what the dreams mean, let alone Jane and Alec. It isn't that easy at all to just tell people you've been dreaming about two fictional people you don't even know, yet somehow come to love them. And then you wonder if you're crazy or not.**

**I know this because that's basically what happened to me, I just based Bella off from me. I thought I was crazy when I kept dreaming about this teenage guy who was my brother. As it turned out, when I was an infant, I had an elder brother who would always play with me, but then tragically died in a car accident. Okay... that's enough story-telling.**

**As for the pregnancy question, please note that it said _is there any chance of you being pregnant?_ This is is simply asking the patient if she is capable of being pregnant or still fertile to become pregnant. This question is actually taken from a real questionnaire my cousin got before her MRI test.**

**Another anon reviewer (Bria): _w-o-w. this is the worst thing i have ever read! all the characters are so out of character and frankly, you have the most flawed articulacy ever! don't freaking update again!_**

**_this chapter just made the whole story worse. EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. are you kidding me? wow._**

**_DON'T FUCKING UPDATE! just sit, read this review and let it sink in that THIS STORY JUST WONT WORK!_**

**Normally, I'd be open to reviews like this, and try to view it their way. But Bria, if you don't like my story, then don't read it. I try my best to keep the characters in character and I try to be as articulate as possible. And I'll _fucking _update if I want to because this is MY_ FUCKING_ STORY. You don't have the jurisdiction to tell me to stop. But thank you anyway, Bria, for your input.**

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys!**

**I know I haven't updated in a while, and I'm sincerely sorry for that. But even though I'll leave this story in, let's say, a month, don't worry. I will never think about abandoning this story. (Thanks for the concern White Blood 01!)**

**The reason I got sidetracked was mainly because of If I Stay. It's a novel by Gayle Forman. I read it the moment it came out, but I had to re-read it this week for the upcoming movie because I kinda forgot the plot. And then I had to read the sequel I did not know existed until yesterday. And then there were movies like X-Men 7 (totally awesome), Blended (not worth it) and Maleficent (I genuinely loved it), and I was finally able to write this (Yes, I'm well aware that it's a filler but... this chappie is essential, so to speak).**

**Anyone watched the TFiOS movie yet? Damn, I heard it bring justice to the book. I'm watching it this Friday! :) **

**Okay, enough with the personal stuff! **

**Hope you liked this and forgive me for my many mistakes!**

**Drop a review, or follow this story or add this to your favorites! Any kind of love is still love!**

**Cheers!**


	8. 7 — Meeting

**CHAPTER SEVEN - MEETING**

**THE CULLEN HOUSEHOLD**

* * *

**PART 1: PREPARATIONS**

The Cullen house is very busy.

Alice is all over the place, pacing back and forth as she rambled to herself at a speed not even her family can understand.

The others are just running around the house, making sure everything is in order, and they don't even know why they have to because there's nothing to arrange. Alice thinks otherwise.

"I mean look at that painting!" She had said. "It's two centimeters off!"

"Alice, I don't really think-"

"And those cushions! They're not in their right order! It's supposed to be the big ones on the side while the smallest one in the middle! Why the hell are the two in one side and the small one on the other?"

"Alice-"

"Yes, Esme, I know! Language!"

So yes, the Cullen house is indeed _very_ busy.

"Why the hell are we even doing this?" Emmett says, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I mean, the house isn't even messed up for us to fix anything, and Pixie over here won't tell us why we should!"

No one is able to stop her when she suddenly flings her less-than-five-feet frame to Emmett's towering six foot seven build.

"Because, idiot, Edward just decided to bring Bella to the house now!"

"What?" The other Cullens say at the same time Emmett says in a bored tone, "So?" Emmett's tone clearly has a double meaning of _So what if Bella's comin' over? She comes here almost everyday. Why is this big news again?_

"Why?" Jasper asks.

"Why does Edward ever do anything?" She challenges. "Duh! Because it concerns Bella!"

"Is there something wrong with her?" Esme's voice is high with worry.

"No," Alice answers immediately. "He... He plans on having her meet Jane and Alec."

"Oh..." is all the Cullens say, and the resounding silence after that is deafening.

#

He is hurt in her behalf.

How could she not see she truly is special?

And that's when he gets the idea.

He pushes himself off from her bed and dashes to her window. She cracks an eye open and looks at him. It's a few seconds later before she says, "No way."

"I want to show you," he says pleadingly, "I want to show you why you're not crazy nor a freak."

She ponders for a moment, most likely for an excuse. "Edward, it's a school night."

A corner of his lips tug upwards. She probably can't see it though because it's too dark. "I'll bring you back in plenty of time. Please."

He extends a hand to her.

"Fine," she says almost begrudgingly.

#

Before any of the Cullens could utter any sound whatsoever, Alice says, "Bella will be freezing by the time she gets here so... Esme, can you please cook some soup? And Rose, can you get a blanket?"

Esme complies immediately, but Rosalie stands, intimidating, with her arms on her chest. "And why should I do that? She's nothing to me."

This time, Alice does not jump on Rosalie, much opposed to what she did to the blonde's husband. No, the shorter girl just strides forward to her taller sister and meets her with the equal level of fierceness in her poised posture.

"Rose," Alice begins in a hostile voice. "I'm asking you nicely.

"Alice," Rosalie says in the same manner as Alice, but more sickly sweet, "And _I'm_ telling you she means nothing to me."

Jasper, seeing how the situation could escalate in a quick pace, immediately lets away waves of calm from himself, sending most of them to Rosalie and Alice. But, sensing the girls' emotions, he can clearly see that it only helped marginally.

"Why don't you get it yourself, Alice? You have two arms and two legs that aren't broken. I wouldn't say the same, though, for your head, seeing as you want to help a silly hu-"

The blonde isn't able to finish her sentence because she suddenly can't feel... _anything_. It takes her a few quick seconds to realize...

_That damned kid_, she thinks.

"What's going on?" Alec asks, his arms extended from himself to send his _mist_ that cuts of senses to Rosalie and Alice. And to think, he just came back from hunting with Jane to find this.

Carlisle and Esme approve of Alec's quick thinking. Both are opposed to the idea of violence, and think what the boy did was the right thing. But they do worry what would happen when Alec would have to retract his mist that is currently keeping their daughters bound.

"Well _now_," Emmett starts in a playful sarcastic tone, "You've got my wife and his mate trapped in an indefinite limbo of nothing."

"You know what I mean, Emmett," Alec says. Emmett and Jasper are both satisfied and quite proud. They may not have trusted Alec fully (How could they? He just dropped the I'm-Bella's-other-life-brother.) but they took him under his wing and the first thing they did? Teach him modern English. They are pleased to know it is working.

"They were bickering about a blanket," the big vampire replied.

Alec cocks his head to the side in confusion. "That actually raises more questions than answers."

Jasper decides to step in and answer for him. "Alice was requesting Rosalie to get a blanket."

Alec huffs. "Again, more questions than answers."

"Bella's coming here! That's why, you-"

"Emmett!"

"-doofus."

#

Edward feels like an idiot. He should have wrapped Bella in a blanket or two.

He is running at a speed of a vampire, and his love is in a thin cotton shirt and mid-thigh shorts.

And there is the fact that he can clearly hear her teeth chattering.

He gradually slows his speed.

"Sorry, love," he says, "I should have made you wear a different set of clothing."

"I-It's fine, E-E-Edward."

It's not.

But he had a whole minute to think about it.

And for a vampire, that is almost an infinite time to think.

It's a logical assumption. Bella's health deteriorating at a fast pace, those dreams and hallucinations she experiences, Alec and Jane's sudden arrival (they seem genuine with their visit), Bella fainting shortly after uttering out Alec's name without having to meet him first...

They can't all be coincidences.

Of course, regarding Bella's health, he was a million light years away from even thinking about changing her into one of his kind - a vampire. But considering the fact that Carlisle said it was a condition he had never heard of before, he admits he _had_ thought of it, but only as a last resort.

But he knew, after her encounter with James in Phoenix, when that sadistic vampire bit her wrist, he knew she had no plans of becoming a vampire again, due to her fear of fire and also because she almost never talks about it, unlike before the bite when she was enthusiastic about spending eternity with him.

And there is also the fact that when he asked Alice if she could see Bella becoming one of them... She said:

_"No. I don't. Edward, I never saw her become one of us, remember? I never saw her become a vampire... Those visions I had of her were not premonitions, just... my imagination, I guess. But this time, I _do_ see you changing her... but she won't survive the change. Her mind is not going to be able to handle what she is going through now, and she will fade away quickly."_

So the idea of changing her is out, which makes him both relieved yet trapped.

What else is there to do to save her from herself?

The moment Bella told him about her recurring dreams about two twins who happen to be her siblings in her dreams; he already knew who she was talking about. Any doubt he may have had vanished when she described them.

Did she not remember her very brief encounter with Alec? The one where she uttered his name without having to meet him first before promptly fainting?

The answer to that is probably no.

He may not understand the whole concept of this impossible phenomenon, but he believes her.

Does he think bringing her to them is a wise choice?

He doesn't know.

But one thing Edward knows that, even though this is probably his stupidest decision ever, it is the one that feels the most right.

#

In the kitchen, Esme is still cooking Bella's hot broth, but it is now nearing an end. _I hope she likes Chicken Noodle soup,_ she thinks as she adds a few more ingredients her cook book tells. As she is stirring her soup, she asks, "Alec, dear, where's your sister?"

There is a short pause from the Cullen living room.

"She's upstairs," Alec answers, "She wants to be alone. But when Isabella is here, I-I'll get her." And there is another silence. "Shall I release them?"

The largest Cullen vampire and the blond empath both step forward and wrap their arms securely around their mates, just in case they the girls have any plans of mauling Alec to pieces (Both boys are more sure that Rosalie is going to be doing most of the mauling).

"Go for it, man," Emmett announces.

And the _mist_ is pulled away from both the girls as Alec blurs back to the bottom of the stairs in seek of refuge.

Rosalie is the first to react.

"_Let me go, Emmett! He had no right to do that to me!"_

"Oh brother..." Emmett sighs as he pulls a thrashing Rosalie outside in an attempt to calm her down.

"I understand why he did it," Alice says vacantly. It's a common side effect of Alec's ability: it's going to take a few seconds before one's senses fully recover.

"You sure, darlin'?" Jasper asks, still wary of loosening his hold on her.

"Yes, Jasper, I'm sure. Besides, I saw him deciding to do it before he stepped in the house. Now, you know I love you so much, Jazz, but can you let go of me?"

Jasper chuckles a little and tightens his arms around her. He lifts her off the ground and lets his lips crash to hers. She giggles and allows herself to melt in the kiss for a second before she pulls away.

"They will arrive in fifteen seconds." She unhinges herself from him and effortlessly hops down. "I have to get Bella's blanket."

#

"Babe," the largest vampire of the Cullen family said in a soothing voice in an attempt to calm his wife.

She pulls herself away from his hand. "No, don't even try, Emmett. What right did the witch have to do that to me?!"

Emmett decides he is going to be serious, instead of making things lightly. "Well, what else was the kid supposed to do? Much less think? It looked like you and Alice were going to have a catfight." That was serious enough, right?

"Oh please," She scoffs, "Alice and I may have our days, but you know we would never actually fight."

"My point exactly," Emmett intervenes. "How the hell was the kid supposed to know that? Besides, this all started just because of a blanket. Why wouldn't you just-"

She cut him off. "You actually wanted me to follow Alice's orders of getting a human _a blanket?_"

"Err..." Emmett mutters, dumbfounded. "I think the answer here is no."

The blonde looks like she wants to slap him, but instead she grabs his hand and pulls him away from earshot.

#

"Sister," Alec says as he entered the bedroom he shared with Jane the Cullens were so generous to give (Apparently it was Alice spare bedroom. Why did Alice have a spare bedroom? She needed more room for her shoes.)

"What?" Jane, who is dressed in a black dress that belongs to Alice (yes, it fits perfectly but instead of stopping above the knee, for Jane it's several inches below the knee), snaps. She is just lying on the massive unnecessary bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Isa's arriving," he says. It's only two words, but they hold a lot of weight.

"Thank you for the update, brother. Now will you kindly find yourself out if you hold news no more?"

"But... sister..."

"I care not if that wretched human impostor is coming! She is not our sister, Alec! She is all but a doppelganger!"

"Fine then," Alec says in a tone that is not in agreement, but in substitution. No one wanted to get on Jane's bad side. Even Alec had his fair share of mental pain from his twin. "She is _not_ our sister. But at least come down and say hello."

"And since when did the Volturi guard became friendly, Alec?"

"Jane, be reasonable."

"I am!"

"So try to be!"

"_You're_ the one who needs to be reasonable! So, unless you want to end up in agony, out you get! Once you have regained your ability to think coherently, only then will you have my consent of coming back."

#

"Okay, mind telling me why you'd drag me all the way out here?" Emmett asks as he raises both of his arms up to gesture their surroundings. They are at the farthest edge of the forest, far from supernatural and human hearing range. Honestly, Emmett doesn't know what his wife had to say. It could be important. Why else would she, as he termed it, drag him all the way out there?

Unless she just wants to break a couple of trees without Esme hearing the commotion...

"Do you want to know why I don't like her _at all_?" She tells him out of the blue, shocking him a little at her quick mood change and the topic brought up.

"Sure," he says. But he has a gut feeling it's because Bella's _human_ and she's not.

"Because of now."

Emmett had to scratch his head.

"What?" What did she mean _because of now?_

"She's _human_, Em."

His hand drops his hand and has a slight smile on his face, one that is reassuring. "I know, babe. I know. But I love you no matter what."

She huffs and slaps that side of his arm.

"OW!" Emmett cries. "What the hell was that for?!"

"That's _not_ what I was meaning, Emmett!" She hisses.

"Then what _did _you mean?" He sounds a bit annoyed, a tone that is unusual for the large vampire.

"She's human, Emmett!" She says in a raised a voice, proclaiming it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and her husband doesn't get it.

And he doesn't really get it.

"Rose, you know I'm not good at riddles."

Rosalie feels like slapping herself.

"Look, Emmett. She's human. And being human directly translates to being fragile. Of course, I was opposed to our idiot brother apparently falling for a silly human... But then I saw how this human in particular is more prone to getting injured and bringing herself to life-threatening situations more than any other human out there! I don't like her at all because everyone in that damn house loves her, including you, and I'm sure as hell that she is literally going to be the demise of our family when whatever she's going through keeps getting worse."

Her husband is quiet. Stunned, in fact. His mouth opens once. Then twice. Then thrice. But like a fish out of water, he is unable to formulate any coherent words.

Rosalie decides to speak again.

"So - and I swear to God, Emmett, if you tell anyone about this or even _think_ about this, I won't be getting anywhere near you for a month - but we have to find a way to save her."

**PART 2: HYPERVENTILATION**

It takes all of the little brunette's willpower to stay put in the shortest Cullen's spare bedroom. She literally had to dig her nails through her diamond skin and let the slight pain of it distract her from taking a step outside the room.

She is tempted. She feels like Pandora, and that doorknob is the only thing that separates her from the truth behind it all. At the back of her head, it is an itch she can't reach. She wants to satiate the thirst for the burning curiosity that throbs within her.

Her eyes dart here and there. Her breathing begins to quicken. The grip on her knees deepens.

She briefly wonders if this is how humans feel when they feel completely out of their depth, as if they were drowning in a deep and vast ocean. Because that was what she feels like: someone had tied her foot with an anchor and she was slowly being dragged down.

And that is when she remembers the correct term for quick and panicked breathing: hyperventilation.

She never even thought twice about a vampire hyperventilating. And that's because it is practically unheard of!

And here she is, sitting on a bed that does not belong to her, hyperventilating.

Oh dear Lord... now that she thought about her bed, she thinks about Aro. Surely he has noticed their disappearance. Has he let their disappearance be and think of it as an extended hunt? (They did had quite the past of leaving the protective walls of Volterra and hunt). Or did he think the disappearance was rather unusual.

But everything she does - her thinking, her moving, her breathing - stops.

The door downstairs opens and she can hear a heartbeat.

The human is in.

**PART 3: EXCHANGE**

Alec decides that it would be best if he would allow Isabella to rest and warm herself up rather than blur himself to her and rudely cut off anything she has to say with his loud, nervous, obnoxious and excited stutter.

From the staircase, he hides himself and spies on the human girl that was lazily draped over the bronze-haired vampire.

She hops down from his back, her bare feet resounds in the room as she greets everyone she could see with a warm yet sheepish smile on her face.

Even at that distance, though, he could see she is shaking. He has the strongest urge to run to her and wrap his arms around her waist, like how he used to do when Isa was ill and he wanted her to feel instantaneously better. Even though he was equipped with the knowledge that a simple embrace could not cure anything, she still acted like it could.

He misses those days quite dearly.

But he can't do that to Isabella.

One, his own skin temperature would only make things worse.

Two, he is not even sure if this is his Isa.

Not a second after he notices her shivering, the shortest one drapes a blanket on her back. The bronze-haired one guides her to the coach for her to sit and the mother gives her some soup.

"Wow," She says as she devours the soup as if it were her first meal in weeks, "this is the best soup I've had."

The mother looks pleased with herself. "I did my best."

She slurps quietly and gulps it down before speaking again. "You sure did."

Everyone is silent for while, waiting for her to finish her soup. He then realizes that the mother's eyes are trained on him, burning with a silent question he knows the answer to.

_Is Jane coming?_

He shakes his head.

The mother's face looks like she is going through a rough moment as a heartbroken expression ghosts on it before she looks away and plasters another smile on her face, but this one does not look as convincing.

As soon as the human girl is done with her meal, the father gives her glass of water, which she accepts with a "Thank you." She takes small sips before putting the glass down, and everyone knows that it is time.

She looks at the bronze-haired one (Alec still isn't sure if she is his sister, but he is more unsure of her relationship with the copper-haired vampire) and asks, "So what is it that is so special for you to bring me here for on a school night? I thought you were going to show me what made me special."

The reactions are instant: the copper-haired one has a small frown, the shortest one giggles, the blonde teenage male has a slight smile, the father and mother both share the same look of parental concern.

"Silly Bella," the shortest one says. "You _are_ special. What made you think that you're not?" When the human girl is about to speak, the pixie cuts her off and says, "wait, don't answer that."

"Bella," the bronze-haired one says. "I'm not _showing_ you what makes you special."

She looks confused. "What? But you said-"

She is interrupted by a quick kiss on the lips (which Alec finds completely revolting).

"Wrong word choice, love. Rather, I want you to meet someone who thinks you are special."

And, with all of the Cullens eyes trained on his hiding spot, he knows his cue, so he summons all of his courage and stands on his feet. He manages to walk and make it look casual, but in reality, he is shaking inside.

This is it.

His first _real_ meeting with the girl he had been so anxious to meet over the course of several months.

The human girl's eyes look up and they meet his, and he is once again struck at how... at how _brown_ those eyes were.

Those eyes that once belonged to Isa Harrison.

Only eight more steps now until he reaches her.

Seven...

Six...

Five...

Four...

_Oh my Lord, she is standing up._

Three...

_She's looking at me!_

Two...

_Oh God, please don't faint. Please don't. Lord have mercy on us and please DON'T LET HER FAINT._

One...

And he is directly in front of her, a couple of feet away that is both safe yet close...

He is struck with her scent again. How... alluring it smells. He hears the low rumbles that enacts from both the bronze-haired one's and the blond's chests. He had hunted enough earlier and all those centuries working for the Volturi paid of. He manages to curb his thirst.

Oh wait, he's supposed to speak now.

"H-H-Hello, Isa." He mentally hits himself in the shin. "I mean, Bella."

"No," she says immediately, confusing him. She blushes at herself. "I mean, that's fine. I like Isa. Erm... you know my name. W-What's yours?"

Does she really not know? Does she not remember that moment in front of the Cullen residence? Does she not remember speaking his name before falling?

He doesn't care. He answers, "Alec. My name is Alec."

"Well," she extends her arm towards him politely, "it's nice to meet you, Alec."

He wants to shake her hand. But he doesn't want to. He torn between two choices which he has to make in less than a second. Should he shake her hand? Should he ignore it?

He can't stop himself. His hand flies up and encloses around her warm one. The others just watch. They just register this as a normal handshake.

The handshake is anything but normal.

He feels a short hum of familiarity and something else before they let go of each other's hands.

By the look on her face, she felt it too.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, before you pelt any rotten fruits at me, I can explain!****  
**

**I got in major trouble with my school (I take online schooling) because I neglected my studies because of writing fanfiction that I was grounded for over two months for that. I was _not_ allowed to write any stories until I was out of probation.**

**So... I'm out of probation! Yay!**

**I hope you guys aren't _that _mad. *Dodges rotten tomato* Okay, I get it! I'M REALLY SORRY! :(  
**

**Also, thank you to everyone who supported me about haters. :) You **

**Hope you liked the chapter. I'm sorry for any mistakes made! If you like this story, then drop a review, or add this to your favorites or follow it. Any kind of love is still love.**

**CHEERS!**


End file.
